REGULAR ARTICLES

The Zulu War of 1879

The rst of our feature articles provides everything you need to know about the Zulu Wars
without having to read a library to nd out.
Neil, Dave and Stephen present our guide to
this fascinating period

Editors Column
Guest Column
News
Reviews

Verdun

Neil Fawcett presents an historical look at

one of the signicant battles of WW1 where
one million German soldiers attacked an area
defended by just 200,000 French. this bloody
battle has recently had its 90th Anniversary

I am your King!

Repression and politics provide the backdrop

for this very silly skirmish action featuring
Arthur and his valiant knights. If youre not a
fan of Monty Python then youll probably ne
this scenario extremely strange

In the next
issue we take an in
depth look at wargaming the Eastern
Front. Hopefully this general can nd his
way there before he misses all of the fun ...

Over the Top - Adventurers - Commanding

- First

Modular Battleelds

Painting Guide

Where the Eagle Dies

Dave Robotham reveals the tricks

of the scenery trade as he takes
some basic TSS desert tiles and
turns them into gaming boards that
should rightfully be hung from a
wall in a nice frame.

Dave Robotham provides a step

by step guide to painting 15mm
Xyston Macedonians. And dont
panic, there is not one Irish accent
to be heard.

The rst part of Tom Hinshelwoods

Lost Century campaign sees the
elite legionaries of the 1st Cohort
try to escape through the Teutoberg
forest while they are mercilessly
pursued by Germanic tribesmen.

NOTE: This new double page spread version of the magazine

is best viewed using what Adobe Acrobat calls Facing layout.

Once you have opened the PDF you should click the View tab
on the menu bar and then choose Page Layout and from the next
set of options select Facing.
The WJ Interview

15mm wargamer and master painter Ian Marsh

(aka Fighting 15s) gets put under the spotlight
and answers questions in the Wargames Journal
Interview.

Raze the Fort

Toms gone Roman again with this Romans vs

Gauls cavalry scenario set during the time of
Julius Caesar. Will the Gaul chariots manage
to burn the outpost? Play the battle and nd
out. whether Gaul chariots are match for well
trained Roman cavalry

The Vienna Bridgehead

It is competition time and the chance to win

yourself 50 of wargaming kit with Neil
Fawcetts guess the WW2 book.

Rank Fire - Unleash Hell - Nightbringer - Stalagluft III - 96th Rifles - Storm

The Paint Shop

Crocodile Tears

To Catch a Warlord

There is a lot of talented professional

painters out there which has led us
to open our doors to them to share
their talent with us and you. First up
is our own Dave Robotham who has
recently entered a world of making
his brush for hire!

One of the most dreaded weapons

of WW2 was the ame throwing
Crocodile tank. In this scenario,
playable with Rapid Fire, Flames
of War and Blitzkrieg Commander,
British attackers attempt to liberate
a German occupied French town.

From the archives comes this

ctional encounter between Task
Force Ranger and Somali Militia
in a prelude to the infamous Black
Hawk Down battle of Mogadishu
1993. For use with Wargames
Journals 5.56mm rules.

The Verdun article on Page 38 inspired

to dig out some Renegade WWI British
soldiers and ofcers we knew we had in a
box somewhere. Thoughts of Blackadder
sprung into our minds ...any idea why?

44

EDITORIAL
I t

Just

Gets

B e t t e r

Well its the fourth time out for the new look Wargames
Journal and once again Im immensely proud of what
we have to show you. If its possible Art Editor Stephen
Rhodes has managed to make this WJ look even better
than last time out.

There are two scenarios for your enjoyment featuring

the Romans this month. Maybe its the recent Rome TV
series that has inspired my interest, but whatever the
reason my fascination with the legions shows no signs
of regressing.

It seems that you agree, last months issue has been

downloaded over 52,000 times at the time of writing
this. So far this quarter were averaging 3.2 million
hits per moth, with 300,000 unique pages read and the
quarter is nowhere near over. Theyre mind-blowing
numbers.

Where the Eagle Dies is the rst part of the Lost

Century campaign, which was introduced last issue,
where a century of legionnaires is attempting to
escape Germanic warriors in the Teutoberg forest. The
second Roman article is Raze the Fort, a Warhammer
Historicals scenario featuring a Gaul attack on a frontier
outpost.

On pure numbers alone it appears were on the right

track with the magazine but our goal is to make each
issue better than the last and for that we do need your
feedback. Whether you nd a mistake, typo or have
a suggestion or criticism we want to hear from you.
Unfortunately we cant always reply to each and every
email we get, but all are gratefully received.
Weve got an electric mix of articles this month and the
rst of our new feature articles that provide a beginners
guide to a specic historical period. Neil, David and
Stephen have been hard at work looking at the Zulu
War of 1879 and have provided background material,
wargaming advice and great looking maps of the main
battles of the period to create an easy to digest overview
of the genre.
What else have we got? Well, there is a blast from the
past with our archive article, To Catch a Warlord. In
fact, that particular scenario was one of the very rst I
wrote for Wargames Journal, several years ago now and
uses my 5.56mm modern skirmish rules.

Painter supremo Dave Robotham presents two

indispensable Brush Strokes with step by step guides to
the ne art of painting 15mm Macedonians and how to
turn boring gaming boards into things of beauty.
Plus we have a silly Monty Python inspired skirmish
action with I am Your King, frantic WW2 action with
Crocodile Tears, and a whole lot more to get your teeth
into.
The WJ crew are having a big gaming weekend at the
start of March which weve all been really looking
forward to. The local church hall has been booked for
some big and beautiful games and in the next issue well
let you know how we get along.
Expect lots of pics and the odd ugly mug shot of the
Journal posse.
Ok, thats enough words from me. Carry on reading and
enjoy Issue 4.

Since doing the 2nd edition of Age of Blood Ive been Tom Hinshelwood
tinkering with 5.56mm and hopefully it wont be too Editor
long before the new rules are ready to be rolled out.
tom@rebelpublishing.net

BLACK SCORPION MINIATURES

ROLLS OUT US MARINES IN 32MM (HEROIC 28MM) SCALE

By Dave Robotham
If youve not come across Black
Scorpion Miniatures before then
you dont know what you are
missing.

The Marines are available as packs

of ve gures or you can take
advantage of a 35 deal which
gets you all 27 gures, or 1.30
per gure. The packs and single
The company supplies a superb gures on offer include:
range of 32mm scale (or what
is now generally referred to as
US Marines with Night
heroic 28mm scale) white metal Vision Goggles
miniatures covering off the modern
Marine Captain
era (US Marines and Iraqi Militia)
US
Marines
Special
and a post apocalyptic range called Weapons Team
Damnation Row.

US Marines 3

US Marines 2
It also
does
60mm
Checkpoint Marines
figures
for the painting
Command Pack
enthusiast.

Marine Commander

On the companys web site the

gures are describe as:
US Marines from post war
Iraq 2003. These gures could be
used as any marines from the last
10 years or so as the uniform has
remained largely unchanged in this
time.
Supporting the US Marines are
various packs of Iraqi Militia. Again
the company does a discounted
deal which will get you 25 gures
for 30 with the gures armed
with RPGs, pistols, grenades and
AK47s.

NEW INFANTRY
SET TO CURB
THE BUG

T H R E AT
Mobile Infantry Army Book
19.99
The most recent addition to Starship
Troopers: The Miniatures Game is the
new rule book covering all the Mobile
Infantry forces from the M9 Marauder
to the TAC UAV. With the release of
this book you can now eld an entire
company of Mobile Infantry instead of
the usual platoon.

Attack on Endor!
14.99
The latest scenario pack to be released by Wizards
of the Coast is based on Endor and is packaged with
a rather cool looking AT-ST that is scaled to t with
their range of gures.
Included in the box are two maps representing Endor
battleelds it is worth noting that these maps are also
the rst set designed with the new over-sized gures
in mind.
You also get a scenario booklet and three Stormtrooper gures,1 Scout Trooper, 1 Stormtrooper, and
1 Stormtrooper Ofcer.

Watch out for the deeds of this

band of adventure hungry heroes
in the next issue.

HEARD ON THE WIRE

HoW comes to you this month eye candy scenery etc) but almost If you still need to populate your
from the virtual pen of Rich
Jones who shares with you his
latest ndings in the world of
wargaming.

This month we begin with a

visit to the Hammerhead show
at Newark. The Chestereld
Wargames Club took over the slot
vacated by the deceased Sci- and
Fantasy Partizan show. As a debut
show it was very good, they had a
good way of getting people to play
the participation games. Basically
you got a card and had it signed
at each game you played. Whehn
your card was lled you got in
the prize draw. Appeared to work
very well.
The hall at Kelham always has a
problem with lighting in the main
big hall. I felt particularly sorry
for the chap from, The Baggage
Train who was in an alcove which
would be at home in a real life role
play dungeon.
This was a shame as he had a
selection of new 10mm gs to add
to peoples collections. I picked up
some WW2 Germans which are
very nely detailed. The greens
he showed me of the upcoming
Norman army made me decide
what my next Warmaster Ancients
army is going to be!
There was a wide selection of
participation and demo games,
none of which made you want to
write home about the scenery and
presentation (although I suspect
working around WJ tends to
make you become desensitised to

all were brilliant in their ideas and Punic War table in 28mm then a
game play.
visit to Renegade may be in order
to get those elusive Spanish gures
One which I particularly liked was - http://www.renegademiniatures.
the weird WW2 game featuring com/
zombies, SS vampires and Brit
commandoes. All the gures were Here is something I stumbled
from the superb 40mm Graven on 28mm camo netting with
Image range (Jim Bowens gs authentic looking leaves to paste
get them through Monolith on just what every MG42 crew
amongst
others
http://www. needs the site has a heap of other
hammerhead.org.uk). Good fun cool scenery stuff - http://www.
had by all (unless you were the barrule.com/workshop
werewolf I suspect).
A game which I always mean to
All in all it was good to see decent pick up and have a go at is, Hour
numbers of punters at a debut of Glory. If like me you have
show, especially as the numbers at forgotten to get one then make
the last few Partizan shows I have use of their post free special offer.
been to have been fairly low.
Hopefully next time I can tell you
what the game plays like - http://
Foundry have been busy putting www.warmacre.com/
together some new collections
of both old and re-done gures. We have been playing some rules
One of my favourites is the Orc from the Two Hours Wargames
collection. Have a gander, then stable in the ofce lately so it is
explore the others at http:// interesting to see they have two
www.wargamesfoundry.com/ new sets out, one a Vietnam game
collections/WARORC/4/index.asp and the other a medieval one on
one set! Check out the review of
C-P models have added to their NUTS in this issue and then visit
WW2 carry on range in 28mm. the site at http://www.angelre.
Originally these were going to be com/az3/twohourwargames/
36mm I think but have apparently
shrunk however they are very A site which should interest
nice gs explore at http://www. the Nap gamers amongst us is a
cpmodels.co.uk
new blog about the Waterloo
campaign bookmark this site
Black Scorpion have a new to watch as it grows - http://
range of modern US marines in jcminiatures.blogspot.com/
large 28mm have a look at the
single ofcer gure and see if, like Havent received many news items
me, your rst thought is SG-1 from manufacturers or show
Jack ONeill!!
organisers as of yet come on
guys, tell us what you are doing!
9

Sam Mustafa, author of the Grand Armee Napoleonic

rules, explains his latest gaming enterprise ...
When you publish a game on Topic X and it begins to
attract a following, you should expect soon to begin
hearing enthusiasts asking you when the variant will be
published for Topics W, Y, Z and so on. Since the game is
often more alive on the internet chat-sites than anywhere
else, these requests usually follow one of two predictable
patterns.
In the rst instance players write or post, asking if youll be
doing a variant of the game for the War of Jenkins Ear any
time soon. I generally respond that No, I myself wont be
doing one, but if somebody else wants to do one, I hereby
grant permission to use the trademark name and Ill even
help with the editing. Ninety-ve percent of the time that
will sufce to send the person away quietly, as he has no
intention of actually doing any of the work himself.
In the other ve percent of cases, however, the earnest soul
will take up the gauntlet and will announce the beginning
of his project to create a Grande Arme variant for the
Taiping Rebellion or what-have-you. He will nd two or
three accomplices online and they will ll the chat-site
with ideas for about three days before nally giving up
and becoming quiet.
Thus it had been for more than three years, with the many
requests for Grande Arme variants, until late last year I
decided to pick up my own gauntlet and do one myself.
The more I began to work on Old Fritz the less it resembled
a GA variant. First there was the issue of scale. Frederician
battles were substantially smaller (and shorter in duration)
than their Napoleonic counterparts. This allowed me
to reduce scale a bit (now somewhere around 1 per 75
yards) while still allowing for battles that were smaller and
required fewer gures than a GA battle.
Second, the Napoleonic deep brigades that GA depicts
with large squares were not appropriate for 18th-century
warfare. That necessitated an all-new basing arrangement
using two stands per brigade, meaning that Old Fritz is
moving perilously close to representing something like
gasp, GA players unit formations.
Those of you who think that GA had to fudge too often
to represent brigades, when their historical counterparts
were rather messy amalgams of different units, will be
positively horried by Old Fritz. In some armies infantry
regiments had two battalions, but in others they had one
and some had three or more, and some were supplemented
by a single battalion of grenadiers, while others werent,
and so on.
And brigade composition is often bewildering: at Liegnitz,

for instance, the second and third battalions of the AnhaltBernburg regiment were brigaded with the two battalions
of the Prince Ferdinand regiment, while the 1st battalion
of Anhalt-Bernburg was brigaded with the two battalions
of Gablenz, and one battalion from the Wied regiment,
the other battalion of which was brigaded with a different
regiment of two battalions, plus a single grenadier
battalion.... You get the picture.
The only solution and frankly it is a solution which I nd
increasingly sensible and eminently defensible is to say
that units on the table are representative of the presence
of similar proportions of their historical counterparts. Run,
literalists, run for your lives.
In some instances a designer nds himself at a
serendipitous juncture where historical feel and gamedesign imperatives coincide. That was the case with the
new system I devised for Forces and sub-commanders
(these words will be familiar to GA players.) Rather
than trying faithfully to recreate the bewildering and
overlapping ad-hoc command structures of Frederician
armies, I decided to list an armys composition in units,
and then list the sub-commanders available in that army.
The commanding general like his historical counterpart
must rst create the Forces, himself, by assigning units
to generals. Since every general represents some dynastic
or political consideration, every one has to get a command
of some signicance, like it or not.
And then we roll up each generals abilities, based on his
historical norm. (You can usually count on Ziethen being
a ne cavalry commander, and so you give him all the
Hussars, only to learn now that he has the u, and isnt
doing well today.) This happy fudge got me off the
hook for all sorts of arguments about scenario design and
gives the players the chance to do what their historical
counterparts would have done, but which is rarely done in
historical scenarios.
A number of other new ideas have found their way into
Old Fritz. Some come from three years experience with
GA and others particularly those dealing with musketry
are entirely new. This short column precludes further
elaboration, but sufce to say that I am happy with the
evolution of this game design.
Old Fritz will be in development throughout 2006 and
most likely will be published in early 2007. Oh and please
dont ask me when Ill be doing the variant for the MaliSonghay Wars.

10

11

This skirmish scenario is set in Somalia around the time of the Blackhawk Down
incident that saw 18 US troops killed in Mogadishu, with 73 wounded, and which sent a
shockwave throughout the US and the rest of the world. Intended for a small insertion
squad this scenario introduces our fast-play modern combat rules to you 5.56mm and sets the scene for future modern combat articles.
INTRODUCTION
You wouldnt believe the angst that surrounds writing
an article like this one. Several staff writers loathed
the idea, many others backed it up and some just sat
on the fence. Wargaming modern combat encounters
is a deeply emotive thing to do, or so it seems.
That said we chose to go ahead and write this teaser
scenario. What we in no way look to do is marginalise
the incidents in Somalia in 1993 or in any way injure
the parties who fought there. This scenario simply
draws from the history of the armed conict and is
to be hopefully used to provide a basis for testing our
new Modern Fast-Play Skirmish rules.
We wont go into too much detail about the events of
Blackhawk Down this issue thats the
basis
for a much more in-depth set of scenarios
in a future issue but what we will do
i s
set the stage for what was happening
in Somalia in 1993:

On Sunday, October 3rd 1993 attack helicopters

dropped around 120 elite US soldiers into a busy
neighbourhood in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia.
A simple mission was at hand - abduct several top
lieutenants of Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah
Aidid, in around one hour and then return to base.
But what transpired was that two high-tech UH60 Blackhawk attack helicopters were shot down.
Troops were pinned down through a long and terrible
night in a hostile city, ghting for survival. When
daylight came: 18 Americans were dead and 73 were
wounded. One helicopter pilot, Michael Durant, had
been carried off by an angry mob.
The Somalian toll was far greater. The death toll has
been placed at near to 500 dead - scores more than was
estimated at the time - among more than a thousand
casualties. A staggering number for a
short combat.

This armed conict was far from being one of

Americas nest moments in military history, although
it did demonstrate incredible personal bravery on the
part of the Delta Force and Ranger troops involved.
Today the Battle of Mogadishu is known today in
Somalia as Ma-alinti Rangers, or the Day of the
Rangers. It pitted sophisticated military power against
a mob and was the largest single re-ght involving
US soldiers since the Vietnam War.
The mission that resulted in the Battle of Mogadishu
came less than three months after a surprise missile
attack by US helicopters under UN command) on a
meeting of Aidid clansmen. This attack was formulated
after a Somali ambush left some 20 Pakistani soldiers
dead. It is said the missile attack killed 50 to 70 clan
elders and other people, but this number is ofcially
rebuffed and stated to be more like 20.

green, so the
colour is not a
s h o w - s t o p p e r.
The notion of repainting the helicopter was
entertained for about 30 seconds, but the model from
FoV is so nicely done we gured this would have
been overkill.
The Village of Abi-Sadu is located roughly 80 clicks
from Mogadishu and is a known hostile location
and as such must be treated with extreme caution. It
is unknown as to the full extent of the Rebel forces
in the area, but intelligence points to as many as 30
hostiles at any given time.

The US assault is intended to A) destroy any weapons

found B) grab any Rebel leaders and C) search for
In an odd sort of way you could say that the US and prisoners. It is believed that several Pakistani soldiers
Somalia were at war following the helicopter attack. were snatched when the earlier ambush took place.
This rescue package must be located and moved to
Our scenario is a ctional build-up to the ill-fated the extraction point designated Charlie at F4 for
Blackhawk Down conict, several weeks after the collection by the UH-60. If this Extraction Point
helicopter strike and sees a relatively small team of proves to be too hot then an alternative Echo
US Rangers and Delta Force snipers head out into the location in D1 can be used.
desert to assault a village with Aidid militia stationed
within it.
THE MAP
As you can see this is a simplistic layout with little
or no noticeable scenery to write home to mother
about. The key points are the 8-12 buildings the
exact number is your call, but we recommend a
reasonable number to inuence game play the main
road that runs across the
terrain board and the
sand dunes which offer an
element of cover as
the Rangers move into
the target. These
The perimeter of the assault is to be covered off by dunes are also where
the Delta Force
Delta Force snipers two in total who will provide Snipers deploy and cover
covering re in the event of trouble. The extraction the target.
point is close to the village and this task will be
performed by a UH-60 Blackhawk in night
(black) camouage if you have it.
SCENARIO INTRODUCTION
This is a night-time assault and will see a groundbased Ranger insertion squad (often referred to as
a Chalk) that is mounted in Humvees use stealth to
enter a village, securing its perimeter and strike out to
search buildings for Aidid personnel and weapons.

We actually used a pre-painted model

from Forces of Valor (FoV) which is
13

The terrain is a 6 foot square area and we opted to childrens models of Humvees that we are in the
use 20mm scale gures which we got from Liberation process of converting up for military action.
Miniatures and a variety of buildings (bought and
scratchbuilt) for the rst test of this scenario.
The terrain for our rst test game was basic TSS desert
boards which have served us well and the sand dunes
For this article we moved up a scale to 28mm and are nothing more than coated polystyrene which do
used MoFo moderm gures and a mix of resin and the job nicely.
scratchbuilt buildings again. The Humvees are from
the Britannia Miniatures range and as stated the Our roads are hardboard cut into strips, painted black
Blackhawk is from FoV.
and then edged with some sand to make them look
a little less dull. So all in all nothing too ashthat
The vehicles are a little on the small side for the comes from the game play hopefully.
gures, but we coped and have recently found some

14

Our new terrain is much more elaborate, although

again its assembly is pretty straightforward and not
too tricky.
US ORDERS OF BATTLE AND SETUP
The US troops enter the game from the top right hand
side of the map F1 and are loaded in Humvees
touting .50 cal machine guns. Clearly the name of the
game is stealth, but if you want to go in guns blazing
then it is up to you.

the Somali militia.

The mission intelligence for this game leads the US
forces to believe that the package they are after is
located in the house located at the join of D5 and E5.
But this could be wrong! When the US troops get to
the house they think is correct roll a D6:
1-2

Somali player may change the house within

18 inch radius of original location
Package in next closest house
It is the right house Intel is correct
Right house, but package has been split into
two locations.
Choose a 2nd house within 12 inches for
2nd collection

3-4
It is recommended that the US troops deploy around 5
the sand dunes at D2 and make their way forward 6
on foot. The Delta Force snipers Corporal BullsEye James and Sergeant Patterson will take up a
covering position on this sand dune which offers a
wide eld of visibility.
SOMALI ORDERS OF BATTLE AND SETUP
The Humvees carry a team of roughly four troops, The minimum number of militia in this game will be
you can split accordingly and the downloadable 20 and they will be armed with AK47 assault ries
Squad sheet will give you names and equipment for and RPGs. They are housed around the town, several
all 10 members of this insertion team. The mission is will be on patrol and the package will always be
commanded by Lieutenant Sasaki.
guarded.
The US team are all carrying night vision goggles An arms dump needs to be located in the village
(unlike the night of the actual Blackhawk Down which should be destroyed by the US troops and
mission) and this gives them a major advantage over this should be located in B5 or B6.
15

See Special Rules tables for the randomised locations

of troops and hostages.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
If either or the sides are completely wiped out then
the other side automatically wins, otherwise when the
US troops reach either of the extraction points and the
US player decides, the game comes to an end.
Victory Points are then worked out, and the side with
the most is victorious:
US
5 Points Destroying the Arms Cache
10 Points Securing the package
5 Points Capturing the Somali leader

DOWNLOADS
Somali
The following les are Adobe Acrobat PDFs and
2 Points For each US soldier killed
contain the key elements of this scenario: Orbats and
3 Points For each US soldier alive but not at the Special/Scenario rules. Simply click on the link to
extraction point when the game ends
head of to the Wargames Journal web site where the
1 Points For each Humvee destroyed
PDFs are located:
If the US player achieves his objectives but still has
less Victory Points because of high casualties then he
has still achieved a victory or sorts but the cost has
been too high and the Somalis effectively win.

US Squad Sheet
Somali Squad Sheet

16
16

17

SCENARIO AND SPECIAL RULES

The following table will detail random events which
may or may not occur during the course of the game.
The scenario is presented for our new fast play
Modern Skirmish rules 5.56mm which uses a card
sequence for activation of troops.

barks, giving away his position. The Somali player

may select any single US character and any rolls to
attack or spot him are made at a +1 modier until the
end of the turn.

The way it works is that each character or team is

given a card from a traditional pack of playing cards
and you also use the jokers in fact you can really
make the game fun by using extra jokers. This minipack is shufed and turned over to indicate which
character or team gets to go rst that turn.

6 - A US character becomes blood crazed, abandoning

all thought of stealth or safety and shoots at the nearest
Somali. The Somali player may select any single US
character who has not already had his go this turn and
that character must use the Auto-Fire special action
to shoot at the nearest threat. (aka Charlie Sheen in
Navy Seals)

Should a joker be turned over then consult this table:

Roll a D10
1 - The next character activated suffers a weapon jam
and must take an action to x it (Morale roll against
TN 4). If he fails to do so then he must spend his
second action xing the jam, but does not have to roll
to do so.

5 - Blank

7 - Blank
8 - The next character activated has either not brought
along enough ammunition or has been wasteful with
his shooting. He counts as having an Ammo-Low
status with his primary weapon for the rest of the
battle.

9 - The next character activated hears something close

2 - An irate Somali emerges out of a house chosen by by and mistakenly believes it to be the enemy. The
the Somali player and is allowed a single Fire action opposing player selects the direction and the character
before returning inside. The gunman has the same must take a Move action as he investigates the sound.
stats as a Somali Militia.
The character cannot be made to Move into the line of
re of an enemy he is aware of.
3 - Blank
10 - 1d6 Somali Militia reinforcements arrive from
4 - A US character accidentally alerts a stray dog who the southern road on foot.

18

Somali Rebel Troop deployment is random. There are

20 gures including a leader and what we recommend
is that you place 2-4 gures with any prisoners (2
inside and 2 outside) and then 2-4 gures with the
leader, perhaps having a late night planning meeting,
or maybe just getting drunk.
The remaining gures should be placed in patrol
positions near to the houses on the road and then
inside the buildings. This is left up to the defending
player to decide.
Destroying the Arms Dump - A US soldier needs to
get within the perimeter and use a single action to
plant the explosives. Then during the characters go in
a subsequent turn the player can choose to detonate the
explosives, destroying the Arms Dump, and causing
everyone within 4 to take damage TN D6+6.

19

Before the battle the US player needs to choose 2 of

his team to carry the explosives. If either is killed at
any point another character can take the explosives
and detonators from a body by being adjacent to the
corpse.
Capture the Leader - If the Somali boss can be either
be killed or given a Mortal Wound in hand-to-hand
combat the US player can instead elect to capture
him. If this is done he is bound and taken off. A US
character escorting him counts as performing the
Carry special action as though with a Critically
wounded companion.
If two US characters escort him then both are
considered as if using the Carry special action but
they can Move normally without having to roll, both
characters must stay adjacent to the captured Somali
boss.

NUTS!

The Game of Man to Man Combat in WW2

Produced by Two Hour Games and Written by Ed
Teixeira
I was rst intrigued by this company
a couple of years back promising
a quick but believable game with its
Chain Reaction rules. The creators
also seem to have the following of a
group of skirmish gamers who swear
by them for realism and game play.
I did buy them at one stage under the
Girls n Guns guise. They looked
intriguing but to be honest they
seemed confusing and I basically
couldnt be bothered to sit and wade
through them.
When CR 2 came out the layout
problems and some mechanisms had
been tweaked so wanting to give
them another chance I bought them
and then waited for the right time to
test them out. Unfortunately that time
didnt arrive although the reaction rule
mechanics had me well intrigued.
When the WWII version hit the
Internet (simply called NUTS!) I
got hold of them, but as I was again
wrapped up with play-testing a few
other WWII rule sets and playing
Warmaster Ancients, again NUTS sat
on my hard-drive. This changed when
our club wanted to use our 36mm
(1/48) WWII kits for a quick one off
session and it seemed like the ideal
opportunity to try them out. So after
a rather awkward start Im very glad
I did!
For the sake of the review I have used
the US terminology of a squad being
what we Brits would call a section
(usually 8-12 men).
Firstly, an important point for gamers
to understand, where do the rules
sit level wise among the gamut of
skirmish rules available? This isnt
that easy a question to answer, but Ill

give it my best shot:

They are certainly not at the Final
Combat or even Face of Battle end
of the spectrum in terms of complexity.
This is where it gets tricky and the
anomalies began, as they have a lot
more scope for character detail than
say Arc of Fire or even We Can
be Heroes but seemed to be a fairly
simple set of rules.
So Id say they are basically aimed at
having a squad or maybe two squads
per player on the table, maybe even
with scope for running a platoon
each.
At my local club we now regularly
have a platoon on the table in bigger
games. For those interested right from
the start by such things, they are d6
based (also use a deck of cards for
initial force generation) and not in
the buckets of dice
category as you will
usually be rolling from
1-6 dice. While basically
being an initiative driven
IGO UGO system the
reaction checks mean
you barely notice that
they are!
The rules are 60 pages
long
including
all
the frills such as the
campaign and forces
mechanisms as well
as 6 Quick Reference
Sheets. While normally
touted as portraying
Hollywood action Id
say that John Wayne or
Audey Murphy would
not have made the rst
interlude had Hollywood
action been this real.

20

In case you dont know your

Ardennes history the title of the rules
comes from the alleged response the
commander at Bastogne gave to the
Germans invitation to surrender. So
background details out of the way
what are they like to play?
MECHANICS
The average WWII gamer will nd
the mechanics quite different from the
norm I suspect. However those with
a bit of a roleplaying game (RPG)
background will feel very at home.
In the game each commander plays
the Star who has to control (with
the aid of a junior leader) a squad of
soldiers who have the propensity to
want to sit behind the nearest cover
and only pretend they are ghting.
Each gure has a Reputation value
(REP) which encompasses a wide
range of personality and physical

traits. The highest REP is 6 the lowest

squad member will be a 3 while
civvies may be a 1 or 2. Your starting
squad is likely to be a mix, you being
a 4 or 5 and everyone else being a 4 or
3. The REP plays a major part in the
game mechanics, you add it to a die
roll to determine shooting, you need
to roll under it to PASS dice for the
reaction tests which drive the game. It
sounds tricky but it grows on you.
Now, the whole PASSING die rolls
thing is the bit that seems to throw the
mainstay WWII gamer into a stress
related frenzy. I cant quite gure
out why as the mechanics are simple
- basically for various tests you roll
one or two dice and the reaction is
determined on how many dice you
PASS. Pass zero and you are normally
left in the lurch, passing the maximum
possible means you are ying and inbetween is well in-between.
Easier to imagine with an example
of movement maybe: A character can
normally move 8 but can try to dice
for a fast move. In order to do this
they role 2 d6 and see how many they
PASS. If the gure has a REP 3 and
rolls a 3 and a 6 it has only passed one;
it can therefore only move/run 12. If
it had rolled say 3 and a 2 then there
are 2 passes (the maximum possible)
and can move/run 16. If both dice fail
then the gure still moves but only a
basic 8.
This basic mechanism runs throughout
the reaction tests perhaps the major
ones being the in sight test and the
taken re test. These two are the
ones that mostly dene what your
troops do during the game:
The In Sight test is taken by anyone
that comes into view (or potential
view) of any enemy. It is perhaps seen
by our club as more of a reaction/
reex test than a spotting test as
something may move into plain view
but can you react and re at it? It also
determines the order that people can
re in.

The Taken Fire test basically informs

you of what the gure does when they
are red on (not necessarily hit, just
red at). Pass two dice checks and
you can re back and complete any
move, pass one and you are likely
to re back less effectively or duck
back into cover, dont pass any and
you hit the ground and hunker like a
baby well that or run away!
If you do pass and re back then
obviously the rer then has to take a
test and so on each may re several
times until someone ducks back or
takes a hit or worse. One thing that
makes the whole system quicker
than it sounds is the concept of being
outgunned. In the perceived threat
hierarchy, some guns are better than
others and make people duck back
automatically. The Garand outguns
the Kar 98 rie the MG42 outguns
everything. So you have to make sure
you get in rst and make it count!
The whole reaction and out gunned
mechanisms recreate suppressive re
and being pinned down very well.
Lay enough re down on the dug in
MG and you may not be able to kill
them but you can make them keep
their heads down while a group works
its way close enough to lob a grenade
in!
Movement is done by initiative dice
rolling but with a twist. The number
you roll also determines who can go
that turn because only the gures with
an equal or higher REP to the throw
can move. Leaders can take along
lesser REP gures (a quick boot up the
rear for you sonny) but if you leave
lower REP gures alone they are not
going to do much very often unless
they really have to like having an
enemy gure appear in front of them
waving a bayonet xed rie!
Shooting is worked out by throwing
a number of dice equal to the target
number of the weapon: ranging from
1 for Bolt Action ries to 6 for the
MG42. Some weapons have a cone of
re allowing multiple targets etc. The

21

dice roll added to your REP is read

off on a table which tells you if you
have hit a target or not (based on the
position and status of target i.e. are
they in cover etc). Then a quick roll on
the damage table may see your gure
knocked down, obviously dead or
out the game with you not knowing
quite how badly hit til you get to
them and check you run all the way
across to him dodging re only to nd
hes about to die next go anyway!
The vehicles work in the same vein
each crew member is responsible for
different things again a lot smoother
than you imagine it is going to be.
So already an intriguing set but we
havent even hit the cool bit yet! It
may be me but all the rules that have
tickled my fancy lately seem to have
a built in advancement/campaign
system which doesnt require heaps
of paperwork or maps etc.
NUTS has one of the better versions
Ive come across and you feel like
you are bordering on the RPG world,
but without the time commitment
and paper work! Firstly there are
the mission tables nothing new in
this really you may think; roll on a
table and check what mission you
are playing. What makes it standout
though is that this may be a standalone mission for your section (section
patrol etc) or sometimes that is part of
a bigger plan, i.e. you are just one part
of a much bigger attack.
This determines the level of random
support,
pre-game
happenings
(mortar, air support, outanking etc)
and reinforcements you may receive.
These reinforcements arrive at a
randomly determined and unknown in
advance time and consist of a variety
of possible troops. Sometimes this
swings the game a LOT, but as the
man said lifes a bitch, then you die.
It does get you well involved in the
game in one game I played just as
my squad was getting to the objective
on popped a 251 halftrack full of eager

out popped a 251 halftrack full of

eager Panzer Grenadiers and so a
tactical retreat was called for. Then the
next go the smile was wiped from my
opponents face as I won the equivalent
of the lottery and got a rampaging M4
Sherman heading across the table
towards my opponents troops.
After the game a quick few roles may
lead onto a related game or you may
get to start afresh next game (maybe
your platoon was sent for R&R and a
shower). Figures may advance their
REP and abilities, they may be put
forward for honours or if you used
the Star abilities to cheat death or be
cited for cowardice in the face of the
enemy. All this is done with simple,
quick mechanics.
By now I was a convert but the rules
allow for one more thing that stands
them out from other rules which I
enjoy. The reaction rolls can be used to
make one side (usually the defenders)
play on auto pilot! The rolls determine
who res when, who runs who stays
etc.
This makes them ideal for either solo
play or a game with both players on
one side versus an automatic enemy
without that normal solo feel to the

reactions of the opposing forces. My

daughters have both played through
games on the same side as me, handy
to teach the rules and more enjoyable
than having a newbie thrashed by the
old hand.

you get the mechanics sorted) game

where gures tend to do as they like
(or rather do things you dont want
them to) unless you go and kick them
up the backside then NUTS may be
for you.

So just when I was happy playing my

own set of rules, Face of Battle or
Final Combat for squad level stuff,
NUTS has done a FUBAR on me!
Once you get used to the mechanics
they really do offer what they say on
the cover give a damn ne game in
2 hours or less!

I nd that they can give some very

bloody results. In my last game before
writing this review one MG 42 burst
left 3 of my squad face down in the
mud dead and the rest of the squad
hiding in a ditch all Id done was
run over a bridge.

But having said all of this they will not

be for everyone. The level of detail is
strange but they denitely concentrate
on the effects of combat on the men. If
you want ne weapon detail, want to
know where your gure is hit (damn
there goes my left lapel button) and
how many yards of movement you
lose running through that hedge then
these rules may not be for you.
If you like knowing that your troops
will follow your every command and
that your plan will run like clockwork
then these rules may well give you
stress related symptoms!
But if you are after a quick, easy (once

Lastly they are ripe for converting

Neil F get those weird world war II
gs out, or even better those 40mm
Stargate gures!!
They are also supported by two
thriving yahoo groups which can be
joined through the links on the THW
site http://www.angelre.com/az3/
twohourwargames/index.html
The author is very helpful and the rest
of the crew have a lot of good ideas of
how the rules can be adapted.
As to price well the printed copy will
set you back US$23 or you can buy a
PDF version for US$17.

By Rich Jones

The Dashing DArtagnan

Some very nice scenery is also available

22

40mm Musketeer gures

A skirmish game in heroic France

Produced by Eureka Miniatures (www.ghting15s.co.uk
stocks these gures in the UK)
The subject is a wonderful one:
Musketeers! Who cares if they may
well be completely ctional, well at
least as Dumas describes them in
his excellent works. The idea of one
for all and all for one is wonderful.
We all love a hero and a villain and
lets face it the set piece of this story
concept is baddy who had a really
nasty henchman and many other
stupid guards who are right royally
kicked about by four blokes with
swords. Magical!
When Eureka sent us a set of the
new 40mm Musketeer gures it
has started to produce several

people got
themselves all
excited, myself
included. I love
a good skirmish
game
and
although
I now nd
Athos
I
am
in
need of 40mm
scale scenery for around the 1650
timeframe I just cannot resist these
miniatures.
Before I move on with this review
I need to mention scale. These
gures are sold as 40mm scale and
thats great. But when I got out the
major bad guy, the uber-villain of
the times, Rochfort, the Cardinals
Blade, this boy stands 50mm high
a full two inches of crowning glory.
So I asked my current gure

painter what his price would be

to paint this gure up well for me.
I add this text purely because the
detail
of
these gures is
such
that
they deserve a
great paint
job and
it is beyond
me.
Now I know
that many gamers
buy the gures for
their enjoyment of
painting them as
much as gaming them,
but for me I want these
chunks of metal to shine after
they have had paint applied.

The
actual
Musketeers
are
wonderful gures and really do sum
up the characters from the movie
full of life and verve and ready to
make trouble, especially if it involves
the virtue of some buxom
lady in waiting. Aramis
has a ouncing look to
him and Porthos looks
like hes just eaten a
hog roast on his own
and wants to take
his indigestion out
on some Cardinals
Guards.

What amuses me
So back to my question to
about the Guards
my painter friend about
is that the sculptor
how much he would charge.
(Mike Broadbent)
He quoted me 10-12 per
has captured the
gure which is a very cost
somewhat dumb
effective solution for a
nature
of
the
Porthos
gure of this size and complexity.
Guards from the movie.
I then asked a couple of other
They are, after all just
pro painters and got quotes back cannon fodder and these gure
of 15-20 and 20-25 which gave dont look too bright as they lumber
me food for thought.
into combat only to be run through
by the ashing blade of the pretty
I was interested to see how DArtagnan.
this 40mm scale, which seems
to be very popular right
Wonderful
gures
that
Id
now, would impact me
recommend to anyone looking
if I turned to a painting
for
something
service to meet my needs.
different!
The miniatures are wonderful and
as you can see from the pictures
full of detail, crisp and dashing. My
favourite gure is Rochfort because
he looks up for it whatever that
may mean. This gure came in two
pieces: the body and a base. Superb
and other than a badly bent sword,
which I will replace with a sowing
pin or a brass rod, this gure was
perfect. No ash and no noticeable
mould lines.

By Stephen Rhodes
23

Aramis

24

20mm Scale Elefant Heavy Tank

Produced by Dragon Armor
Price: 9.99 (Modelzone)

Ferdinand Porsche had constructed around 90 chassis

for his own version of the Tiger tank when news came
that Henschels design had beaten his own. Not to
waste the work the chassis were quickly converted
into tank destroyers carrying the powerful 88mm PaK
43 anti-tank gun.
At the rear of the vehicle an armoured superstructure
was installed and into
this was the housing for
rather large 88mm gun.
Sadly they missed out
some simple machineguns,
which would have aided
this vehicle signicantly.
The tank was originally
named
Ferdinand,
in
honour of its chief designer,
but as with all things a new
name stuck: the troops
called it Elefant and the
rest if history.

320 kills. These vehicles also saw service in the Battle

for Berlin.
Dragons model is the Sdkfz 184 with zimmerit armour
paste and painted up for Russia/Poland in 1944. The
vehicle is designed to be part of 3.Kompanie of
sPzJgAbt 653 which was deployed in Poland in April
of 1944.
The modelis roughly
3.5 inches long and 1.75
inches wide and has a
superb camouage paint
scheme. What it lacks
is weathering and this
would not take much time
to dirty this tank up.

This is really the only fault

with this model, too clean
and pretty. At 1/72nd scale
it ts in wel with my other
WWII vehicles and I very
much like the effect of the
Well protected by thick
Zimmerit. A great model
armour and packing a punch with its superb gun the for 9.99 and having acquired 4 I now fancy playing
Elefant was underpowered mechanically inept. Early the Battle of Ponyri.
models lacked an MG fo defence and as a result fell
foul of Russian infantry tank-hunters when it rst saw
action at Kursk in 1943.
Surviving Elefants from this campaign were called
back so that a machine-gun could be mounted in the
hull. These were subsequently sent to Italy. The last
Elefant was destroyed in 1944. It is believed
that during the Kursk campaign the
Elefant tanks accounted for

By Stephen Rhodes

20mm Scale HMMWV

Produced by Dragon Armor
Price: 8.99 (Modelzone)

The High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle

(HMMWV) is the replacement vehicle for the M151
series jeep. The design goal for the HMMWVs was
to provide a light tactical vehicle for command and
control, special purpose shelter carriers, and special
purpose weapons platforms.

coloured vehicle designed to represent a HMMWV

M1025 used in Baghdad in 2003 as part of the 997th
Military Police Company a green camo variant that
is also from Baghdad in 2003 but part of the 2nd
Strike Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.

It is basically a rough and tough vehicle capable of

dealing with the rigours of the modern battleeld.
The HMMWV is produced in several congurations
to support weapons systems; command and control
systems; eld ambulances; and ammunition, troop
and to be a general cargo transport. And of course
these days Hollywood Stars like to drive a Humvee!

These are great little models that are suitable for all
sorts of scenarios, especially non-Iraq ones. We have
a large set of 20mm Mogadishu gures and as part of
a future game we need 12 HMMWVs and at 8.99
these models are a cost effective way of getting us to
that target. Out of the box they work and with TOW
missile and automatic weapon versions available
these are ideal gaming accessories.

We got hold of two variants of this model: the sand

The model is 1/72nd scale and fairy durable.

26

I thought about spending a 1,000 words saying how

beautiful these gures are, but then I decided that actually showing you the pictures would be a better thing to
do with the space I was allotted with the review.
As a painter I am inspired by these models: great poses,
superb concepts, creatively strong, lovely castings and
well proportioned. I am really stuck as to which one to
prime and paint rst.
The gures come from Black Scorpion Miniatures
(http://www.blackscorpionminiatures.com) and cost
3 each or you buy them all for 16. The bundle takes
these wonderful gures down to 2 each, which is a
bargain in my mind. For this style of miniature that is
excellent value.
Artistically they are going to be a joy to paint: plenty of
crisp detail with very few at surfaces, meaning there is
plenty of said crisp detail to get your teeth into. Im
not quite sure what I am going to do wit them, but the
challenge of nding a wargame or roleplaying game for
them to play in will be worth it.

By Dave Robotham

27

Roadblock Squad

I love it when a product arrives in the post and

immediately everyone grabs hold of it for a good look
and then a heated debate ensues. Thats what happened
when a parcel of 32mm scale (heroic 28mm) US
Marines arrived from Black Scorpion Miniatures.

The Special Deal gets you Marines in Night Vision

Goggles, Special Weapons team, Marines Pack 2 and
3, Checkpoint Marines, Marne Captain and Marine
Commander.

As US Marines go these gures are amongst the best

The parcel contained a Special Deal which costs that I have seen, and Im a big fan of The Assault
35.00 and gets you 27 Marines, which is simply Groups. My rst recce of the gures makes me think
1.29 per gure. So thats the maths out of the way, that I can mix them in with
my TAG gures but
now what about the gures. This is a saving of 6 as with mix and match this
is down
over buying individual packs of gures.
t the personal taste of the
gamer.
Well Im eager to point out about now that Im talking
about these gures generically and Im not judging One of the things that
them. Whether it is good or bad taste to wargame caught my eye straight
modern military actions while a war is still raging is away with these models is
not my concern with this review. Im looking at these the weapons, or rather
gures from a perspective of design and quality.
the quality of them. On
some gures ries are too
The castings were very clean, well dened and hardly thin so they snap off (I have some Delta Force models
any ash with minimal mould lines. They will take that rarely take the eld these days because of broken
hardly any time to prep for painting. Anatomically the ries) or worse still, they gun is made chunky and
gures cry quality and although some of the poses just looks awful. This isnt the case here.
look a little contrived I was generally very pleased
with them.
By Neil Fawcett
Special Weapons Squad

28

Innitys ultra-science ction models

Produced by Corvus Belli
Price: Various

The Yu Jing Guijia

I am a fan of huge giant mecha with huge giant mecha
guns and huge giant mecha swords or for that matter
any other types of huge giant mecha weaponry. Which
as I said in Issue 3 is why I am quite excited about the
new range of gures form Corvus Belli. So I jumped at
the opportunity to purchase some whilst at the A Call to
Arms show earlier in February.
The rst gure I picked up was
the Yu Jing Guijia for 18. I
will admit now that I have not
played any games with the
Innity rules so I could not tell
you how the gure performs in
combat but you can check that
out for yourself on the Innity
Website - www.corvusbelli.
com. What I can tell you is that
from a painters and modellers perspective this gure is
superb. Even when sitting in
the box in its eight parts it still
looks good.
When assembled this battlesuit
stands roughly 65mm tall, not
including the spines on its
back. The arms are moulded
as ball joints so even though
they are single castings, with
the weapons already attached,
there is still a large variety of
poses available. As I said above
the gure comes in eight parts and three of those are the
spines that run down the battlesuits back. It is refreshing
to have a gure as large as this one that is easy and quick
to assemble whilst keeping a great amount of freedom in
the pose.
The casting of the individual pieces is, as far as I have
seen, some of the best around. That is a pretty bold claim
right there but I tell you no lies I have seen no better casting. There is almost no ash to speak of and the mould
lines are none existent. There are plenty of sooth surfaces
that are a joy to paint and the rest of the detail is clean
and crisp with no blemishes or miscasting on any parts.
Altogether this is a great model whether you use it for
Innity or your own nefarious needs it will look great

and paint up wonderfully. The only real problem I have

with the Innity models is that they are very expensive,
bordering on, or sometimes in, the realms of GW pricing.
Yu Jing Invincible and Yu Jing Tiger Soldiers
So how do the lofty standards set by the Guijia carry
through onto the 28mm infantry? Well rest assured the
casting standards and details on the gures remain high.
Even the poses the gures,
which are just generic running with gun poses, work really well and make for a great
wargames gure.
In the Invincible blister pack
you get one gure that comes
armed with HMG and a sword
of some description. In the
Tiger Soldiers pack you get
two gures one armed with a
HMG and one with a CombiRie. The Blisters come in
at 5.50 for the Invincible
and 8.00 for the two Tiger
Soldiers again rather expensive but somehow I nd I can
forgive them. It helps that the
game they are designed for
is a skirmish game but then
again, that isnt the strongest
argument in the world.
Theses gures come in multiple parts none of which seem
overwhelming but there are a few issues with them. Gluing the sensor spines onto the Guijia is not really a problem as it is a rather large gure but the spines and ns on
these smaller gures are an absolute pain to glue on and
stop from falling off. The pieces are so small that only the
most experienced modeller would be able to effectively
pin them in place. But all hope is not lost as the models
still look fantastic without the spines and ns.
So these 28mm gures are still wonderfully detailed and
well cast but with a few ddle pieces letting the overall
package down slightly. I am looking forward to painting
these up to go with the Guijia I already have nished.

By Dave Robotham
29

A SIMPLE GUIDE TO GREAT

LOOKING MODULAR TERRAIN
By Dave Robotham

Like all wargamers we end up making lots

of terrain. This usually ends up being for
the magazine or for test games when we
are trying out new rules, or for when we
just feel like a game. We get a lot of emails
from people talking about terrain and we
gured we could see if Dave could link the
two together.

probably need polystyrene tiles at least

25mm thick (we prefer 50mm which we
either buy in this thickness or stick two
pieces together) and I think a good size for
the tile is 2 x 2. To cut your polystyrene to
size all you really need is a good Stanley
knife, tape measure and something to
draw a straight line against.

The subject of our rst article on modular

terrain is the desert, or more accurately
the updating/upgrading of TSS desert
terrain tiles and boards using spray paint
and basic ock

Cut along the line you want for your board,

making sure the cut is as deep as the
Stanley knife will cut. You can then just
snap the polystyrene and you will get a
clean break where you have cut.

IN THE BEGINNING
I started this project with some very basic
TSS desert tiles in hand, which might
well have been basic polystyrene for all
the detail they had to them. But before I
move on to how to make these TSS tiles
look good I gured that as I have made
numerous gaming tiles in the past I would
detail some basic ideas behind starting
from scratch.

Using 50mm will give you enough depth

to work into the tile. The easies way to
add undulating ground and other features
is to gouge the polystyrene tiles out with a
suitable tool like a knife or even a spoon!
All you really need to do is get your basic
shapes formed into the board.

Before you can add paint effects and

ock you need to actually get hold of or
make your tiles or board. Most builders
yards will have plenty of stock of normal
white polystyrene or if you are lucky you
might come across the special blue and
pink styrene sheets, usually used for oor
insulation I think.

Next choose a good neutral coloured

emulsion (grey or ivory) and cover the
tiles in it. This will seal the polystyrene and
start to help cover up the beaded effect
carved styrene often has.

Throughout all my terrain making sessions

(of which there have been many) I have
settled on a very simple way to texture
boards and tiles with ock or sand. For
desert boards I suggest using quite ne
sand, especially if you are going to follow
The blue and pink materials are much some of the techniques used in this
stronger and less prone to denting or article.
crumbling than standard polystyrene, but
the latter is much to come by.
You can use texture paint like Artex but
I nd often the grain used in the paint
If you are starting from scratch you will can give a very sharp nish and that just
30

makes me nervous when my lovely painted

gures might scrape across it.
Start by getting good wood glue or PVA
glue. It is important that you do not water
it down or use glue that is too runny. You
have to work quickly for this to work so
dont dawdle
Paint your glue onto the entire surface you
will be adding sand to. Make sure the coat
is not very thick and is still wet all over.
Pour all your sand into a pile along one
edge of the tile or board, then lift the board
or tile up on one end and let all the sand These are the tiles I was tasked with
painting up before I had done anything to
poor down the glue covered board.
them. They have one at colour of ock on
This is where you may encounter problems them.
if your glue is too runny or too thick as it
will roll down with the sand and ruin the Start by spraying a constant layer of Earth
Brown into the lower areas of the undulating
smooth effect.
ground. Then dapple the entire board with
Use a cloth to collect all the sand or ock Earth Brown. You want to avoid spaying
and you can re-use the excess on further the colour in one place for too long so you
tiles or boards. Let this dry over-night or get a good varied tone across the whole
the best part of a day. You may have to board. At this point it will look strange but
go back over undulating ground while the you still have two layers of paint to go.
glue is still wet by pouring sand into the
indentations and then lifting the board up
to remove the excess.
When done properly this sanding technique
produces a wonderfully smooth nish that
is hard to match if you apply the sand in
patches over time.
THE PAINTER PAINTS
The quickest way to get a great nish on
terrain boards is with spray paints. With
two or three colours you can create a
wonderful mottled effect.
Remember when using spray paints to
make sure you are working outside or in a
very well ventilated area.
For the desert tiles I used a three tone
effect. I used Earth Brown, Desert Yellow
and Matt White.
31

The recesses in the tiles have been sprayed

with Earth Brown. The TSS tiles we used
had these already made in the surface, but
it is very easy to gouge out your own ...

Using Earth Brown to dapple the tiles does

create a very stark contrast but dont loose
heart as further colours will act as a glaze,
blending it all together nicely.

Next use the Desert Yellow and dapple the

board but do not worry about following
the same patterns you laid down with the
Earth Brown as you are looking to achieve
a random effect. Also try to avoid laying
down too much paint in one particular area
as detailed above.
As you can see from the following 2
pictures the Desert Yellow spray paint has
toned down the stark lines of Earth Brown
and started bringing the overall effect
together.

Finally dust the board with Matt White.

Dusting is an even lighter application than
dappling and you literally want only want a
very wide pattern that will catch the edges
of any features you have sculpted onto the
board.
When used this way you can achieve the
same results as a very light drybrush.
The strength of a well aimed spray can is
often something that is overlooked when
modelling.
At this point, if you want to get playing, the
board is nished. With the dappled colours
the board will look more varied and more
natural than a plain colour or cloth.
32

As you can see the use of white spray has

just accentuated the undulating ground
and added a more depth to the board and
blended the colours.

THE GRASS
I decided to add a couple of nal touches
to the boards I was making in the form of
rough stony ground and patches of grass
and bushes.
These techniques look good in various
settings and scales

I scrambled around for bags of ock and

grass and discovered I had very little but a
quick trip to my local model shop gave me
a great variety of grasses and ocks in all
shades of green and brown.
I then mixed a few of the ocks together to
give three shades, a light green-brown, a
mid green and a dark green. All the shades
had different browns mixed in as well but
the overall colours were still green.
I used a big plastic container to put each
shade in as I was applying it to the board.

33

A selection of ock and grass

Try to be as random as possible when

applying your ock. It is harder than it
Water down some PVA glue by about 5 looks to make it look random.
parts water to 1 part glue. This watered
down glue will ow much more easily onto For the second and third layers of ock you
the sand or ock you have used on your want to create a gradient effect between
table. Sometimes it may ow too much so colours. If you are using the watered down
watch out.
PVA this should be much easier as the glue
will soak through the ock already glued
Paint a random patch of glue onto your down and provide that natural gradient.
board and then sprinkle your ock or grass
mix onto the area covered by the glue.
Make sure all the glue is covered by your
mix.
Then simply lift the board up and tip the
excess ock back into your container.
Another method is to use enough ock
that you can paint the patches of glue onto
your entire board and then add the ock
and instead of tipping the board to remove
the ock use a vacuum cleaner but make
sure it has been emptied.
When you have nished you can just empty
the cleaner into a suitable storage device.

Using the watered down PVA you can get

First glue down the lightest shade of ock your different coloured ocks to blend
you want to use, you can lay down quite together.
large patches of this ock as the contrast
between your board and the ock will not For the Final touch I glued down small
be huge at his point.
patches of rough gravel around the
undulating ground and then drybrushed
34

them with bleached bone when they were

dry.
Use neat PVA glue as the watered down
mix will not give you enough grip to keep
the gravel in place. Apply the PVA glue
where you want the gravel to go and then
pour the gravel onto the glue. Because
gravel is heavier than ock it is unwise to
try and tip the board to remove the excess
gravel.
Wait overnight or the best part of the
morning or afternoon for the PVA glue to
set and then remove the excess. Finally
you just use a cloth or mat you can use the
drybrush the gravel with a light ivory
same techniques with spray paint to make
coloured paint.
the battleeld that little bit more varied
and pretty.
Dont be alarmed if stones come loose
while you are drybrushing them it is best
On the next page we have included some
that the loose gravel is removed now so
larger shots of the desert boards we created
just carry on and remove any loose gravel
along with some grass boards that we
when you have nished.
created during the writing of the January
issue of Wargames Journal. The green tiles
The nished table in all its painted glory
were made for a 10mm game and they
suddenly feels much more real.
really do show what you can achieve with
a modicum of effort.
They are much more modular than the
desert tiles as they have all the scenery
other than the houses modelled onto
them. Artex was used on the roads and
we used some 10mm dry stone walls as
our hedge rows. We just covered them
in standard green ock and then painted
them with the rest of the table. The trees
were just pressed into the tiles and held
with a dab or PVA glue. These two tables
are very different and demonstrate a happy
medium for gaming: they look the part but
didnt take forever to make!
You should be able to produce quite a
large number of tiles or boards using these
techniques. In fact you can use the same
ideas but just change the type of terrain
you are making. You can have some great
looking tables to put you terrain on even if
35

In the next part of this series we will look

at starting from scratch to assemble a 6
x 4 gaming table. We will also provide a
couple of scenarios that make use of the
terrain we show you how to make.

A sleepy French village awaits rhe advancing British force - its German occupiers well hidden ...

The harsh desert of North Africa - ready for Rommels Afrika Korp or Alexanders Companion Cavalry

36

37

VERDUN
Leading up to the anniversary of this monumental battle we were contacted by Laurent
Pouchain, one of our French readers, who kindly sent us some wonderful images of a
game that he and his wargaming friends are creating their way of remembering this
terrible military action. Wed like to thank Laurent and his friends and congratulate
them on a wonderful game. You can nd out more at http://toutatisnews.blogspot.com/
During World War I Verdun was a fortied French
garrison town on the River Meuse located some
200km east of Paris. Although it had a ring of
defensive forts Verdun was, to most, low down
on the list of military signicance.
The December of 1915 was to see Verdun
become the centre of attention for German
forces as General Erich von Falkenhayn, Chief
of Staff of the German Army, decided to attack
the area in and around Verdun.

appointed commander of the Verdun sector and

he issued an order that no more withdrawals
would take place. Soon French troops ooded in
and by the end of it of the 330 infantry regiments
of the French Army, 259 were to eventually ght
at Verdun.

The battle ebbed and owed and hostilities were

costly to both sides but the French seemed
determined to hang on to their trenches and
forts! The German advance was nally brought
to a halt at the end of February. Then on the 6th
It was to become a horric battle as, to allegedly March, the German Fifth Army launched a new
quote Falkenhayn, the Germans would bleed attack at Verdun.
the French army white. In fact, Verdun was to
offer little tactical signicance. But Falkenhayn This renewed German assault managed to
convinced Kaiser Wilhelm II (on Christmas advance 3km before they were stopped in
Day) that the war was not to be won in the east front of the area around Mort Homme Hill.
against the Russians, but on the Western Front. The French held this strategic point until it was
eventually wrestled from them by the Germans
NOTE: This was not a tactical assessment on 29th May, and Fort Vaux eventually fell on
that sat comfortably with those around the 7th June, after a long and protracted siege.
Kaisar. Paul von Hindenburg argued that the
opportunity was lost to capture the bulk of the Attacks continued throughout the summer and
Russian army. He was right ...
early autumn. However, the scale of the German
attacks was now reduced by the need to transfer
The German attack started on 21st February troops to defend their front-line at the Somme.
1916. It is said that ONE MILLION German With the bit between their collective teeth the
troops initially faced a mere 200,000 French French now counter-attacked and it was here
defenders. Soon the French broke and retreated that General Charles Mangin became a national
to their second line of trenches. By the 24th hero.
February the French had moved back to the
third line and were only 8km from Verdun.
During this counter-attack the forts at
Douaumont and Vaux were recaptured by 2nd
At this point General Henri-Philippe Petain was November, 1916. Over the next six weeks the
38

French infantry fought hard and managed to Verdun and it is estimated that the German Army
claw back another 2km of ground at Verdun.
suffered something like 434,000 casualties.
About half of all casualties at Verdun were
The German advance was brought to a halt killed.
at the end of February. On the 6th March, the
German Fifth Army launched a new attack at In hindsight Verdun held more of a psychological
Verdun. The Germans advanced 3km before signicance, than it did military. The French
they were stopped in front of the area around military has lost faith in forts, and had relegated
Mort Homme Hill.
Verdun to the status of a minor fortress at the
start of the war.
The French held this strategic point until it was
nally secured by the Germans on 29th May, Verdun was the last fortress town to fall to the
and Fort Vaux fell on 7th June, after a long Prussians in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870siege.
71 and by the 1880s its fortications had been
signicantly boosted to withstand further attacks.
Further attacks continued throughout the summer Also, it had a status that dated back to Roman
and early autumn. It seemed like it would never times as an important fortress and therefore held
end. Verdun was to become the longest battle great value with most Frenchmen.
of the WWI and it eventually ended on the 18th
December.
Verdun was more symbolic than strategic.
Perhaps this is what Falkenhayn had counted
The French Army lost about 550,000 men at upon.

39

Figures: Brigade Games

Scenery: Snapdragon
40

Inspired after a conversation with a veteran Tankie this scenario is all about using Allied
Hobarts Funnies (notably the Churchill Flamethrower tank and Churchill Petard) to aid in
the liberation of a French town. We have gone to several rule set creators to pick their brains
about how their rules would work in such scenario and give us orders of battle for how they
think the game should be played.
INTRODUCTION
What we have tried to do with this scenario is create a
generic scenario that can be used with multiple WWII
rules and at various levels of game play Battalion
and Company.
The basis for the article came about after a conversation
with Eric, the caretaker of the local hall that WJ
writers use when we want to play large games that go
beyond the space we have available to us.

throwing a 40 pound (18 Kg) explosive charge

attached to a 28 pound high explosive warhead.
Calling it a Flying Dustbin is a great name for this
machine as it was about the right shape and was
perfect at levelling fortications. Like many machines
of this type the Crocodile Petard was designed after
the Canadian failures at Dieppe.

Then we have the Crocodile Flamethrower which

was a very interesting beast. A Churchill tank was
The game is based around the liberation of a French equipped with a ame-thrower tted in place of
town and the subsequent capture of strategically the hull machine gun it kept its 75mm main gun.
important bridge. During 1945 Eric was a Tankie An armoured trailer, towed behind the tank, carried
in a Sherman Firey and his unit lost several tanks some 400 Imperial gallons (1,800 litres) of fuel and
trying to capture a town that was being defended quite the amethrower had a range of over 120 yards (110
stalwartly by German forces using 88mm guns and metres).
other AT weaponry located in several key fortied
positions.
THE SCENARIO AND MAP
As you can see from the map this is a game based
Having spent 2 days trying to capture the town and around an advance into a town and subsequent ejection
losing 5 Cromwell tanks and a number of infantry the of the entrenched troops. If this was left to the infantry
commanding ofcer called in the Armoured Vehicle on their own with Sherman support it could turn nasty.
Royal Engineers (AVRE) from the 79th Armoured So roll up the Petard and Flamethrower tanks to help
Division with some heavy backup.
with the clearing out exercise.
First up for use in this scenario is the Crocodile Petard
or what was also referred to as the Flying Dustbin.
The Churchill III or IV was equipped with the Petard
Mortar, or to give it its
correct description
a 290 mm Spigot
mortar,

When we rst play tested the scenario we used 20mm

miniatures and terrain and a gaming table that was 6
x 4 and we simply used two foot TSS gaming tiles.
You

42

can change the game table

quite easily to match your
models, we have now
played it using 10mm,
15mm and 28mm scale
gures and terrain and
board sizes ranging
from 4 x 3 to 8 x
6.

PERCY HOBART AND HIS

ALLIED FUNNIES
If you want to understand the Funnies you
need to cast your mind back to the ill-fated
Dieppe Raid. The disaster that was the beach
landing, which saw so many brave souls lose
their lives, led to some fairly radical thinking
on the part of the British Allied Commanders.
What was needed was a series of modern
siege engines to lead the assault on the
beach defences of the French coast. With the
Normandy Landings set for June of 1944 the
ability to not get bogged down in the beaches,
to rapidly sweep away any obstacles would be
critical, especially if there was a counterattack
by German armour. The British wanted to face
this expected event inland and not on beaches
full of mines!

DEPLOYMENT
The game starts with the British forces having
stormed onto the bridge at the front of the town and
it is their go next forget any initiative rolls this
scenario starts with the Brits advancing.
The Germans at the front of the town have had a bit
of a bloody nose and those that were not destroyed
by the artillery barrage that preceded the assault
have their heads down and are steeling themselves
for the next wave of action.

The task was handed to Field Marshall Brooke

who made the made the decision in 1943 to
create new units to meet this challenge. At the
heart of it was a man named Percy Hobart, an
expert in armoured warfare, after whom the
collection of odd tanks was to be named.

The German player should ideally choose the location

of their troops but we have made recommendations
for the sighting of the 88s and the main bunkers.
MARKED LOCATIONS
There are several key areas marked on the map and
these are:

It wasnt going to be a complete from-scratch

exercise for Hobart and his engineers, but he
was to create the most elaborate collection
of engineering tanks that had ever been seen.
For example, Scorpion ail tank (a modied
Matilda tank) had already been used in
North Africa to clear paths through German
mineelds and the Soviet T-34 tanks had been
modied with mine-rollers.

A = Chteau Rommilly
B = Church of the Virgin Mother
C = Town Fountain
1, 2 and 3 = Concrete MG nests
ORDERS OF BATTLE
We have had Orbats created for Rapid Fire, Flames
of War and Blitzkrieg Commander in a hope that
the scenario appeals to either company or battalion
level gamers.

It was in early 1944 that Hobart demonstrated

to Eisenhower and Montgomery a brigade
each of DD tanks (swimming Shermans),
Crab mine clearers, and AVRE (Engineer)
tanks along with a regiment of Crocodile
amethrowing tanks. Montgomery was
convinced of the positive effect these vehicles
would have on combat, but Eisenhower only
liked the amphibious tanks.

Each set of Orbats come with a set of objectives

that suit the rules and include any Special Rule
recommendations.
The generic design of this scenario should make it
possible to convert the game to work with any set
of rules you play with. An example would be I Aint
Been Shot Mum for company level gaming.
43

Hobarts Rank and File

The majority of the designs were modied forms of the Churchill tank which had good
performance over difcult ground or the Sherman tank which was available in large
numbers.
THE CROCODILE
A Churchill tank with a ame-thrower tted in place of the
hull machine gun. An armoured trailer, towed behind the
tank, carried 400 Imperial gallons (1,800 litres) of fuel. The
amethrower had a range of over 120 yards (110 metres).
CHURCHILL AVRE
A Churchill tank adapted to attack German defences. The
crew included two Royal Engineers who could easily leave
and enter the tank through its side hatches. The AVRE had the
main gun replaced by a Petard Spigot Mortar.
BOBBIN
This interesting vehicle was designed to lay down a reel of 10
foot wide canvas cloth reinforced with steel poles carried in
front of the tank so that it and following vehicles would not
sink into the soft ground of the beaches during the amphibious
landing.
CRAB
A modied Sherman tank equipped with a mine ail, which
was basically a rotating cylinder of weighted chains that
exploded land mines in the path of the tank. Very effective
for beach assaults.
FASCINE
Another terrain altering vehicle that carried a bundle of
wooden poles lashed together with wires in front of the tank
that could be released to ll a ditch or form a step. There was
also a Small Box Girder version that was used as an assault
bridge that was carried before the tank and could be dropped
to span a 30 foot gap in a mere 30 seconds.
BULLSHORN PLOUGH
This is a new one to us and we dont have a model of this
beast. It used a mine plough intended to excavate the ground
in front of the tank, to expose and make harmless any land
mines.
DOUBLE ONION
A great name for an unusual vehicle. Two large demolition
charges were mounted on a metal frame that could be placed
against a concrete wall and then detonated from a safe
distance. It was the successor to the single charge device
called the Carrot.
ARK
This is another one that we dont have a model of, but one
that we rather fancy making a conversion of. The Armoured
Ramp Carrier was a Churchill tank without a turret that had
extendable ramps at each end so that other vehicles could

drive up the ramps and over the vehicle to scale obstacles.

DD TANK
The one that Eisenhower liked, even though it had a somewhat
hit and miss history. This was an amphibious Sherman tank
able to swim ashore after being launched from a landing craft
several miles from the beach. It was intended to give support
to the rst waves of infantry that attacked the beaches. The
main issue appeared to be sinking in rough waters. What a
fabulous idea and a rather simple concept in its design. You
can see one at Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset.
BARV
Stands for Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle. This was a
Sherman M4A2 tank which had been waterproofed and had
the turret replaced by a tall armoured superstructure. Able
to operate in 9 foot (2.7 metres) of deep water, the BARV
was intended to remove vehicles that had become brokendown or swamped in the surf and were blocking access to the
beaches.
It was also used to re-oat small landing craft that had
become stuck on the beach. If you want to be pedantic about
this machine it was not strictly speaking one of the Funnies
as they were developed and operated by the Royal Electrical
and Mechanical Engineers, not the 79th Armoured Division.
LVT BUFFALO
This was the British version of the American LVT4: an
armoured amphibious landing vehicle that saw service in
such things as the Crossing of the Rhine.
ARMOURED BULLDOZER
A conventional Caterpillar D8 bulldozer tted with armour
to protect the driver and the engine. Its job was to clear the
invasion beaches of obstacles and to make roads accessible
by clearing rubble and lling in bomb craters. Rather a useful
little beast.
CENTAUR BULLDOZER
Again a model that we dont seem to have in our collection
at WJ, but one we want to source. A Cromwell tank with
the turret removed and tted with a simple, winch operated,
bulldozer blade.
The idea behind this one was to create a vehicle that was fast
enough to keep up with the main tank formations and still be
able to clear the mess up! Not used on D-Day these vehicles
were issued to the 79th Armoured Division in Belgium during
the latter part of 1944.

44

45

ORBATS OF BATTLE FOR RAPID FIRE

Attackers British Infantry Brigade with
Armoured Support

Field Artillery Battery

10 gures 2 x 25 Pdr FG 2 x Quad Carrier
Observer 1 x Jeep, 2 gures

Brigade HQ
Infantry Brigade 3 x Battalions
MG Company
Churchill Flamethrower Squadron
Field Artillery Battery (25 Pdr)
Attached Cromwell Squadron

Churchill Flamethrower Squadron

3 x Churchill Crocodile
Cromwell Squadron
3 x Cromwell Tanks

The composition of the units are as follows:

Defenders German Armoured Panzer

Grenadier Battalion (SS)

Brigade HQ (Optional on table as a complete unit.

Elements can be used, such as the bridgelayer for
the river crossing element of the scenario)
1 x Radio Jeep
1 x Dorchester ACV
1 x Cromwell Tank
1 x Crusader AA tank
1 x Humber SC
1 x Bridgelayer

HQ
CO+3, Panzerschreck 1 x Sdkfz 251/10 Hanomag
Panzer Grenadier Rie Company A
8 gures, Panzerfaust 1 x 251/1 Hanomag
Panzer Grenadier Rie Company B
8 gures, Panzerfaust 1 x 251/1 Hanomag

1 x Sherman ARV
2 x Supply Trucks
British Lorried Infantry Battalion
HQ CO+7 gures (PIAT, 2 Mortar), 1 x 15 cwt
Truck
Rie Company 1 8 gures, 2 x Bren Carriers
Rie Company 2 8 gures, 2 x Bren Carriers
Rie Company 3 8 gures, 2 x Bren Carriers
Rie Company 4 8 gures, 2 x Bren Carriers
Support Company 6 pdr AT, 3 Mortar, 2 x Bren
Carrier

Panzer Grenadier Rie Company C

8 gures, Panzerfaust 1 x 251/1 Hanomag
Machine Gun Company
9 gures, 81mm Mortar, 2 x Tripod MG42 MMG 2
x Sdkfz 251/1 Hanomag
Support Company
1 x Marder III, 1 x Sdkfz 251/9 Hanomag
Towed Anti-Tank Company
8 gures
2 x 88mm PAK 2 x Sdkfz 7 HT

Machinegun Company
CO+12 gures PIAT, 4.2 Mortar, 2 x Vickers
MMG, 3 x 15 cwt Truck, 1 x Wasp

Medium Tank Company

3 x Panzer IV

46
46

ORBATS FOR BLITZKRIEG COMMANDER

Attackers - British Infantry Brigade with
Armoured Support 2000 points

Defenders - German SS Panzer Grenadier

Battalion (depleted) 1245 Points

Brigade HQ
Infantry Brigade (3 Infantry Battalions)
MG Company
Churchill Flamethrower Squadron
Cromwell Squadron
Field Artillery Battery (25 pdrs)
Spitre Squadron

Some of the units in this order of battle have been

given several special rules to represent the fanatical
nature of many SS divisions. The special rules used
are Tough, Aggressive, Deant & Stubborn. They
can be found in the BKC rulebook. The CO has also
been upgraded to command value 10 at double the
points.

Brigade HQ 190 points

1 x CO
1 x Forward Artillery Observer
1 x Forward Aircraft Controller

Battalion HQ
3 Panzer Grenadier companies
MG company
Anti Tank Platoon
Panzer Company

Infantry Brigade, 1st Battalion 285 points

1 x HQ
12 x Infantry Units (4 Companies)

Battalion HQ 240 points

1 x CO (CV 10)
2 x HQ

Infantry Brigade, 2nd Battalion 285 points

1 x HQ
12 x Infantry Units (4 Companies)

Panzer Grenadier Company (depleted) 110 points

2 x Infantry Units (Tough, Aggressive & Deant)
2 x Transport Units (Sdkfz 251)

Infantry Brigade, 3rd Battalion 285 points

1 x HQ
12 x Infantry Units (4 Companies)

Panzer Grenadier Company 165 points

3 x Infantry Units (Tough, Aggressive & Deant)
3 x Transport Units (Sdkfz 251)

MG Company 75 points
3 x Support Units (MG)

Panzer Grenadier Company (depleted) 110 points

2 x Infantry Units (Tough, Aggressive & Deant)
2 x Transport Units (Sdkfz 251)

Churchill Flamethrower Squadron 345 points

2 x Flamethrower Units (Crocodile)
1 x Engineer Unit (Churchill AVRE)

MG Company 165 points

3 x Support Units (MG) (Deant & Stubborn)
3 x Transport Units (Sdkfz 251)

Cromwell Squadron 330 points

3 x Cruiser Tank Units (Cromwells)
Field Artillery Battery 85
1 x Artillery Unit (25 pdr)

Panzer Company 365 points

2 x Medium Panzer Units (Pz-IV long)
1 x Medium Panzer Unit (Panther)

Spitre Squadron 120

2 x Ground Attack Units (Spitres)

Anti Tank Platoon 90 points

1 x Anti Tank Gun Unit (88mm)

47

ORBATS OF BATTLE FOR FLAMES OF WAR

British Attackers 1455 points
1 x Infantry Company with Support
HEADQUARTERS PLATOON
Company HQ 45 points
1 x Rie Company HQ
1 x Company Command Rie/MG Team
1 x Command Rie/MG Team
1 x Universal Carrier
COMBAT PLATOONS
Rie Platoon 150 points
1 x HQ section
1 x Rie/MG Command Team
1 x PIAT Team
1 x Light Mortar Team
3x Rie Sections
6 x Rie/MG Teams
Rie Platoon 150 points
1 x HQ section
1 x Rie/MG Command Team
1 x PIAT Team
1 x Light Mortar Team
3x Rie Sections
6 x Rie/MG Teams
Rie Platoon 150 points
1 x HQ section
1 x Rie/MG Command Team
1 x PIAT Team

1 x Light Mortar Team

3x Rie Sections
6 x Rie/MG Teams
WEAPONS PLATOON
Machine Gun Platoon 170 Points
1 x GQ Section
1 x Rie/MG Command Team
1 x MG Carrier
2 x MG Sections
4 x HMG Teams
4 x MG Carriers
Mortar Platoon 235 Points
1 x HQ Section
1x Rie/MG Command Team
1 x Mortar Carrier
3 x Mortar Sections
3 x Observer Team
6 x 3 Mortar Teams
6 x Mortar Carriers
SUPPORT PLATOONS
Infantry Tank Platoon 555 Points
1 x HQ Tank
1 x Churchill III Command Tank
3 x Infantry Tanks
3 x Churchill Crocodile Infantry Tanks

48
48

ORBATS OF BATTLE FOR FLAMES OF WAR

GERMAN DEFENDERS 990 Points
1 x Panzergrenadier Company with support

WEAPON PLATOONS
Armoured Heavy Platoon 230 points
1 x HQ Section
1 x Command SMG Team
1 x SdKfz 251/1
1 x Machine Gun Section
2 x HMG Teams
2 x SdKfz 251/1
1 x Mortar Section
1 x Observer Team
1 x Kubelwagen
2 x SdKfz 251/2 (8cm Mortar)

HEADQUARTERS PLATOON
1 x HQ Section
1 x Company Command SMG Team
1 x Command SMG Team
1 x Motorcycle and Sidecar
1 x SdKfz 251/1
COMBAT PLATOONS
Armoured Panzergrenadier Platoon 285
points
1 x HQ Section
1 x Rie/MG Team
1 x SdKfz 251/1
1 x 3.7cm Anti-Tank Gun Team
3 x Panzergrenadier Squads
6 x Rie/MG Teams
3 x SdKfz 251/1

SUPPORT PLATOONS
Heavy Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon 130 points
1 x HQ Section
1 x Command SMG Team
1 x Kfz 15
1 x Anti-aircraft Gun
1 x 8.8cm FlaK36 gun
1 x SdKfz 7

Armoured Panzergrenadier Platoon 285

points
1 x HQ Section
1 x Rie/MG Team
Scenario Specics BKC
1 x SdKfz 251/1
If you are using BKC then the simplest way to play this sce1 x 3.7cm Anti-Tank Gun Team
nario is by using the Deliberate Attack scenario detailed in the
3 x Panzergrenadier Squads
book. We suggest changing the scenario slightly so that if by
6 x Rie/MG Teams
the end of turn 12 the British forces are occupying the Foun3 x SdKfz 251/1
tain or the Chateau they achieve a minor victory and if they
have captured one of the above objectives and the Church they
achieve a major victory.
Scenario Specics Flames of War
For Flames of War we suggest using the Prepared Positions
and Ambush scenario special rules. The British will win if
they start any turn in control of the Church and either the
Chateau or Fountain. The Germans will win if they start turn
6 in control of all three objectives or if they start turn 8 still in
control of just the Church. The British take the rst turn in the
game.
Scenario Specics Rapid Fire
The game is set to last for 14 turns. If at the end of the game
the British forces are occupying the Fountain and/or the Chateau or Church then they win the game. Should just the Chateau or Church be held the it is a minor victory. The Germans
will win if none of the objectives are held by British troops. In
order for an objective to be deemed controlled by the British
so German units can be within 12 inches.
49

This new article is intended to give painters an opportunity to show of their wares to WJ readers. First up
is Dave Robotham, a painter who has been making a big impact around the ofce of Rebel Publishing. With
a are for science ction and fantasy painting this is how we rst encountered him Dave has shown a
true calling for painting historical miniatures. When he announced his intent to hire his brush out we were
very excited about buying even more of his time. Id best describe his work as clean and crisp with a are
for the dramatic at a sensible price.
Neil Fawcett, Managing Editor

50

www.courtjestersstudio.com

It was a thing of beauty made from bronze and

polished until it shone as bright as the new sun itself.
To carry it was a mark of the highest honour that only
the purest few might ever hope to attain. But to hold it
above the heads of lesser men was as much a burden
as a reward; for to lose it was a failure so horrendous
that it was better to die than to let the enemy take it.

Eighty souls of Rome they were, her nest sons

strong and stern, and they had thought themselves
immortal. Varus had led them into the heart of Hell
where the barbaric Germans had been waiting. None
understood how it could have happened but the might
of Romes legions had faltered and now only a handful
remained.

The aquila, the eagle, the very embodiment of the

legions pride and might. Three had been marched
into the forest, but now only one remained. What
fate befell the others little is known, except they were
surely wrenched away by the bloody hands of death.
Of the one that remained, its aquilifer, held onto it as
he ran.

Before conquest had been their aim, now survival was

their only goal

THE LOST CENTURY CAMPAIGN

Last month we introduced our new Ancients campaign
and each month we will bring you the next part of the
campaign which focuses on one of the worst defeats
in Romes history. In AD 9 three Roman legions were
Through the thick bracken, between the tall trees, he wiped out by Germanic tribesmen in the Teutoberg
and what remained of the 1st Cohort sprinted for all Forest. Of the estimated 24,000 Romans that marched
their worth. Through heart and skill and savagery into Germany, roughly 1,000 made it out with their
they had fought through the ambush and broken away lives.
from the carnage. To stay and ght was fruitless and
though each man was brave, his courage faltered Each part of the campaign will help decide the fate of
under the face of certain death.
an ever dwindling century of legionnaires from the

52
52

1st Cohort of the 17th Legion. The idea of the

campaign is to lead the Lost Century back across the
Rhine, if you are the Roman player, or to stop them, if
adjustments.
you are the German player.
The successes or failures in each scenario will have
consequences in both the subsequent battle played and
in the campaign as a whole. A bad loss in one scenario
means that when you play the next game you could be
in for a rough time. But dont panic if you plan to be
the Romans, or smile smugly too soon if you plan to
be the Germans, because the Germans will be just as
affected by loss or victory as the Romans.
If you dont like the idea of the campaign for whatever
reasons you will be able to play the scenarios
independently from one another. Last month we said
that throughout the campaign we will be using several
different sets of rules to play the scenarios, but after
careful consideration we decided that sticking to one
set of rules would make playing the campaign much
easier.

Segmented Armour: The

Roman legionnaires of the time
used the famous lorica segmentata,
which was the well known segmented armour. The
armour consisted of iron strips arranged horizontally
across the body, overlapping downwards with
additional strips to protect the shoulders. This type of
armour was more effective than the lorica hamata that
it replaced. In AoB it gives the wearer +3 Fortitude.
Chain Tunic: The lorica hamata was chainmail armour
that was worn by legionnaires of the Republic and
early Empire before the lorica segmentata replaced
it. During this period it is worn by Roman auxiliary
troops. In AoB gives the same +2 Fortitude bonus as a
Chain Hauberk, but without the -1 Agility penalty.

Gladius: The main weapon of the Roman empire,

gladius is the Latin name for sword, but is synonymous
Therefore we have decided that those rules will be
with the short stabbing weapon of the legionnaire.
Wargames Journals own Age of Blood, primarily
Though not as long as many swords (approximately
because the game includes an experience and injury
2 in length), the gladius was highly effective at
system and works great for skirmish battles.
thrusting and so retains the +2 Strength bonus of
normal swords, but like a sax it only has a 1 reach
For more information about the Battle of Teutoberg
and cannot be used in two hands.
Forest refer to the January issue of Wargames
Journal.
Pilum: This was the throwing spear of the legionnaire.
Generally about two metres in length, and though
AGE OF BLOOD IN ANCIENT TIMES
generally much lighter, they could weigh as much
Though Age of Blood was designed for Dark Age
as four kilos, the pilum was an armour penetrating
Vikings the mechanics are simple enough to allow
javelin of devastating proportions. The iron tip or
them to be used with pretty much anything skirmish
shank of the pilum was about 60cm in length and was
related. What follows though, are a list of special
designed to bend on impact, stopping the weapon
rules and modications to tailor AoB to the period in
being thrown back and also making them difcult to
question.
remove from shields.
ARMS AND ARMOUR
The weapons and armour of the Germanic tribesmen
of the time is adequately represented by those found
in the Age of Blood rulebook. However, some of
the equipment of the legionnaire requires some
53

Pilum have the same range as spears and provide

+2 Strength when thrown but they cannot be used
in combat. In addition, a model hit by a pilum must
spend an action removing it from his armour or shield

or enemies will gain +1 Prowess against him. Models represent two things, rstly the randomness and
may spend an action to remove the pilum.
unpredictability of battle, and secondly the importance
of fate and divine intervention in Viking beliefs. As
Scutum: The shield of the Roman army was a large this scenario is a purely historical one, the magical
rectangular shield made of bentwood in a curved nature of certain Fate Cards has no place within it.
shape, and offered better protection than the shields
of most of Romes enemies. In AoB scutum give Therefore, remove all the cards that relate to Gods
+2 Fortitude to models as with normal shields, but and magic. As this will only leave you without about
provide +3 Fortitude against missile weapons.
half a deck, use the following table to determine how
many cards are dealt, instead of the table found on
FATE CARDS
page 10 of the Age of Blood rulebook.
The Fate Card system in Age of Blood is meant to

D10 Roll

Fate Cards

1-5
6-8
9-10

0
1
2

THE SCENARIO
In Where the Eagle Dies, the Lost Century has
escaped the ambush at Kalkriese hill and is now
running for their lives through the forest, desperate

to make it back to the safety of the frontier. However,

the Germans have no intentions of letting the Romans
escape and as the Lost Century carries the eagle
standard of the 17th Legion, the Germans are even
more keen to see them all dead.
THE MAP
The scenario takes place within the Teutoberg forest,
which was, and still is to an extent, a sprawling,
almost impenetrable forest of evergreens. As such

the scenario requires as many trees as you can lay

your hands on. The map weve provided is littered
with trees, but this is for aesthetic purposes so dont
think you can only play the game if you have boxes
of scenery.
You dont need to cover your board with trees. You
just need enough to represent that the entire board
is forested. Even if you could lay your hands on a
hundred trees it would make gaming the scenario
extremely difcult. The important areas to place your
trees are the dense forest areas where going is tougher
for both Romans and Germans. For the purposes of
movement and line of sight it is assumed that the
whole board is covered with trees, even if it is not.
THE FOREST
As has just been mentioned it is assumed that the
whole board is forested, even if there are only a few
trees on the table. Therefore the whole table counts
as Uneven Terrain, meaning that all models move
through it at pace. The areas on the map that are
dense forest are rough terrain, so that warriors move
at pace through it.

current for a total of D10 inches. A model that falls

over misses its next action this turn.
When a model is within the river itself, either from
negotiating it or from falling over, he does not come
under the special rules affecting models in the forest.
This means the standard rules for line of sight and
ranged weapons apply to him.
SCALING THE GAME
The Age of Blood rules are designed for skirmishes
and can handle a full eighty strength century, but
chances are you wont have eighty individually based
legionnaires at your disposal. If you have, great for
you, you can play the game at 1:1, (but youll need
a truckload of Germans) but as this is beyond the
collections of most people the orbats weve provided
are for 1:4. Therefore your Lost Century will contain
twenty gures.

If you can put more on the table then scale up the

numbers appropriately, but when it comes to the
heroes dont increase the quantity of them, instead
increase the level. If youre playing 1:2 then add +1
level to each hero (increase the statistics as per the
With line of sight, because of the sheer amount of trees normal rules), and if youre playing 1:1 then add +2
(real or imagined) on the board, all models must be levels to each hero.
able to see 50% or more of a model in order to have a
line of sight, instead of the normal 25% requirement. THE ROMANS
When it comes to making ranged attacks, all ranges The Lost Century, though primarily made up of the
are halved because of the trees.
elite legionnaires of the 1st Cohort of the 17th Legion,
does contain soldiers from other cohorts, auxiliaries
THE RIVER
and ofcers who have teamed up with them in their
This is narrow and not very deep, but fast owing bid for escape. Below is a list of the various types
and warriors passing over it can chose at what speed of warrior and hero that are included within the Lost
they try and negotiate it, but the quicker they move, Century.
the more chance they have of falling over. Refer to
the below table for the requisite difculty number Centurio Primus Pilus (hero x1)
required for an Agility test. A model than is using the In Latin primus pilus means rst javelin, and the
run special action receives a +1 difculty penalty.
centurion bearing this distinction was commander
of the 1st Century of the 1st Cohort. He was the
Speed
Difculty
centurion with the greatest skills and most widespread
experience.

6
Tribune (hero x1)

8
The general of a legion, the legatus, was aided by
full
10
around eight staff ofcers with whom he would act as
his advisors and assistants. These tribunes were more
If a model fails the difculty roll they fall over in the often than not politically appointed, and therefore not
middle of the river and take a Strength 1 hit against always the most militarily experienced of men.
their base Fortitude (without armour). This represents
being potentially smashed against the rocks by the Aquilifer (hero x1)
current. In addition they are swept downriver by the This is the legionnaire whose duty it is to carry the
56

legions eagle. It is therefore a role with which only

the most emotionally and physically capable and
trustworthy of men are honoured with.
1st Cohort Legionnaires (warrior x10)
These are the elites within the Roman army, the best
swords in the legion. Typically these legionnaires will
have fought in numerous battles and skirmishes and
won their positions through a mix of skill and hard
won experience.
Legionnaires (warrior x5)
The Roman legionnaire is arguably the best trained,
best equipped and most skilful warrior in the known
world. The rst true professional soldier and still one
of the most successful.
Auxiliaries (warrior x5)
These are troops from the provinces of the empire,
men who are not true Romans. Though not as well
equipped as the legionnaires nor as skilful, they are
still a match for barbarian ghters.
ROMAN OBJECTIVES
The Lost Century begins anywhere within the red
square shown on the map and the objective is to escape
the forest and the best way of doing that is to head
south. Therefore the simplest (though not necessarily
easiest) way of doing this is to leave the board from
the southern edge. However, the Romans will either
have to go around the river or cross it rst. Going
around it will take longer and allow the Germans to
close in, whereas going over it will leave the Romans
exposed.

Chieftain (hero x1)

A tribal elder and nobleman who has brought his
warband to the banner of Arminius to drive the forces
of Rome from his lands. He is both a capable warrior
and an effective leader.
Tribal Champion (hero x2)
The best swordsman of his tribe who delights in the
thrill of combat and is ever keen to wet his blade in
the blood of legionnaires.
Noble Warriors (warriors x10)
Only a few warriors are wealthy enough to afford to
go to battle armed with swords, and those that do are
the tribes most experienced and motivated ghters.
Warriors (warriors x20)
These make up the bulk of a tribes ghting men.
Though brave they are poorly armed and armoured and
are no match for the soldiers of Rome. A maximum of
10 may be armed with bows.
Younger (warriors x10)
A tribes adolescents ght alongside the men and even
if they are more foolhardy than skilful, their courage
alone makes them dangerous.
GERMAN OBJECTIVES
The ultimate goal of the Germans is to kill every single
Legionnaire on the table, and though this is extremely
unlikely, the more that can be killed the better. Each
Legionnaire killed here is one less to ght in the
subsequent scenarios.

Even with the advantage of numbers it will be a

Alternatively if the Lost Century can drive off the hard ght for the Germans. The Romans are highly
attackers they will be able to escape with relative procient and will outmatch the Germans in a straight
ease, though whether they will be able to hold off ght. If the Romans chose to run then pick them off
the relentless German assault remains to be seen. at the anks when you can, and if they stand and ght
And remember, the more men you lose ghting them keep at range for as long as you can before making
means the less you will have for future games. A your attack.
combination of running and ghting will probably
work best but with so many Germans hunting for GERMAN DEPLOYMENT
blood, neither will be easy.
The German forces are deployed throughout the map
randomly. Split your forces into groups of 5 warriors,
THE GERMANS
resulting in eight groups in total. These can be made
The tribes allied under the leadership of Arminius up of any combination of troop type. Attach your
create a lethal enemy numerous and dedicated to the three heroes to separates groups.
destruction of the Romans. The Germans are weaker
man to man than the Romans, but they possess far Once the Romans have been deployed roll two
superior numbers. Below is a list of the various types D10s for each group and consult the below table to
of warriors and heroes included in your force.
determine in which square they start. You may deploy
them anywhere in that square.
57

Roman Heroes
Centurio Primus Pilus
Agl Bra Def For Pro
3
6
3
4/10 5

Str
4/6

Val
3

Equipment: Gladius, pilum, helmet, segmented armour and scutum

Traits: Charismatic, Expert Fighter and Resilient
Tribune
Agl Bra Def For
2
4
2
3/9

Pro
4

Str
3/5

Val
1

Equipment: Gladius, helmet, segmented armour and scutum

Traits: Healer
Aquilifer
Agl Bra Def For
3
5
3
4/8

Pro
5

Str
4/6

Val
2

Equipment: Gladius, helmet, segmented armour and eagle

Traits:
Lucky and Standard Bearer (counts as skald)

Roman Warriors
1st Cohort Legionnaires
Agl Bra Def For Pro
3
4
3
3/9 4

Str
4/6

Val
0

Equipment: Gladius, pilum, helmet, segmented armour and scutum

Legionnaires
Agl Bra Def For
2
4
3
3/9

Pro
4

Str
3/5

Val
0

Equipment: Gladius, pilum, helmet, segmented armour and scutum

Auxiliaries
Agl Bra Def For
2
3
3
3/7

Pro
3

Str
3/4

Val
0

Equipment: Spear, helmet, chain tunic and scutum or bow, dagger

and chain tunic
58

German Heroes
Chieftain
Agl Bra Def For
3
5
1
4/9

Pro
4

Str
4/5

Val
2

Equipment: Sword, chain hauberk and shield.

Traits: Frenzy and Opportunist
Tribal Champion
Agl Bra Def For
3
5
1
4/9

Pro
5

Str
4/5

Val
1

Equipment: Sword, chain hauberk and shield

Traits: Expert Fighter

German Warriors
Noble Warriors
Agl Bra Def For
2
4
1
3/7

Pro
4

Str
3/5

Val
0

Equipment: Sword, chain hauberk and shield

Warriors
Agl Bra Def For
2
3
1
3/6

Pro
3

Str
3/4

Val
0

Equipment: Spear, leather jerkin and shield or bow and dagger

Younger
Agl Bra Def For
2
3
1
2/4

Pro
2

Str
2/3

Equipment: Spear and shield

59

Val
0

60

1st D10 Roll

1
3-2
5-4
6-7
8-9
10

Map Column
A
B
C
D
E
F

2nd D10 Roll

1-3
4-5
6-7
8-10

Map Row
1
2
3
4

heroes survive, they can continue their advancement

through the levels. Page 49 of the Age of Blood
rulebook shows the experience rewards for actions
on the battleeld. In addition the following lists show
how much experience a hero receives for achieving
certain goals.
Experience Awards
+3
+4

If you roll either squares B2, B3, C2, or C3, which is

inside the Roman deployment area, you can place the
group anywhere on the board you choose, so long as it
is no closer than 12 from any Roman model.
WHERE THE EAGLE DIES
The Aquilifer carries the eagle standard of the legion
and for both armies this is an important symbol worth
ghting for. If the Aquilifer is killed, whichever model
killed him, if he is in base contact, automatically
collects the eagle. He can be deprived of it in the same
way. If the Aquilifer is killed without being in base
contact with an enemy, whichever model can move
into base contact with his corpse collects the eagle.

Carrying the eagle off the board (Roman

only)
Killing the Aquilifer (German only)

Injuries
In a typical Age of Blood campaign when a model
dies in battle he is not necessarily dead. He could
have just been severely wounded and unable to
continue ghting. For Romans that have been killed
in the battle, do not use the removed from play table
on page 28 of the AoB rulebook and instead roll on
the below table.
D10 Roll
1-7
8-9
10

Result
Dead
Injured
Recovered

Dead models are exactly that and have either died

straight away or been killed by the Germans when
they realised they were still breathing. Injured and
VICTORY CONDITIONS
Recovered models must both roll on the War Wounds
If all the Romans are killed the Germans win and vice table to determine the effects of their injuries. Models
versa, however if neither of these conclusions takes who gain the Injured result also receive an additional
place victory can be determined by who collects the -1 penalty to all attributes.
most victory points.
THE CAMPAIGN
Roman Victory Points
The next part of the campaign will be affected by how
this battle goes. If the Romans lose too many men
+4
If the Centurio Primus Pilus escapes
in escaping then they will nd things tough for them
+3
If the Tribune escapes
when they again do battle. Similarly if the Germans
+6
If the Aquilifer escapes
do not kill enough of their enemies they will nd it
+1
For each Roman warrior that escapes
harder and harder to do so as the Romans will receive
reinforcements in the next battle.
German Victory Points
If the Germans manage to take the eagle then they
+4
If the Centurio Primus Pilus is killed
will receive a signicant boost to their campaigns
+3
If the Tribune is killed
efforts, one which the Romans will nd difcult to get
+6
If the Aquilifer is killed
over. But if they still have it in their hands when the
+1
For each Roman warrior that is killed
campaign is over then they will stand a good chance
of winning.
EXPERIENCE
The Roman and German heroes that survive receive In the next issue of Wargames Journal the Lost
experience which allows them to increase in levels, Century campaign continues
and therefore improve their ghting abilities, should
they collect enough. As the campaign progresses, if the
61

62

63

THE VIENNA
BRIDGEHEAD
The name of the game is quite simple: guess the book? Weve basically taken a chapter
from a book and turned it into a short historical article. All you have to do is tell us what
book Neil Fawcett used to draw inspiration from for it and you could win yourself 50
to spend with any wargaming supplier you want to courtesy of us.
INTRODUCTION
By April 6th of 1945 things were
not going well for the Germans.
They were being hit left, right and
centre by the Allied troops and the
Soviets. The Bolshevik Horde
was closing in and had a blood lust
about it. In Vienna the ghting was
intense.

combat zones and this bitter remnants of the units, which had
ghting eventually led to all the tried to reform as best they could
major bridges across the Danube into a battalion level force.
being blown up, bar one that is.
Roughly 1.4 to 2 kilometres of city
The Florisdorf Bridge was still was being held by these troops on
standing and this is where our the southern side of the bridge and
scenario takes place. Located in they had minimal armoured support
the 21st District of the city the area left still in any ghting condition.
around it was battered and shelled Here we have an interesting
This beautiful city had become into a masonry hell.
stalemate situation:
a battleground and the level of
bravery displayed on both sides I n s i d e
this
hell The Germans were desperate to
was incredible.
w e r e
roughly two hold the bridge for long enough to
b a t t a l i o n s secure time for the troops on the
Such was the nature of the ghting o f
SS units, or Northern bank to setup a suitable
that every room of every house was
rather the resistance to stop advancing Soviet
battled over, even cellars became
troops and armour.

S U I C I D E
MISSION
On the afternoon of April 12th
the Regimental Commander of the
Das Reich Panzer Regiment, SS
Obersturmbannfuhrer Enseling,
The Russians didnt want this was visiting the northern area and
bridge blown up they needed to happened upon a tank crew xing
take it intact so they could surge its vehicle. This was Panther tank
across it and shatter the Germans number 227 which belonged to SS
beyond the Danube. So the Soviet Obersturmfuhrer Arnold Friesen, a
19 year old tank commander.
forces on
In essence the German troops on
the southern bank were sacricing
themselves to give more time for a
defence to be formed to the north,
a brave and calculated gamble.

Alwin
Sternauth,
the
driver,
who was 44 and like a father to his
crew. He even had nicknames for
them all.

Enseling called all the crews to

him and despite the fact that the
German Hummels, which were
thundering down shells into enemy
locations, made his voice hard
to hear he basically asked for a
the south had time to delay and What was amazing was that Friesen
was a veteran. Hard to believe for volunteer crew to cross the bridge.
plan an attack.
a 19 year old man but he had the
The troops were running out of
They were whittling the Germans following under his belt:
ammo and the crew that volunteered
down bit by bit. The Russian
would be taking an ammunition
armour facing Das Reich was from
trailer with them crammed full of
the 5th Guards Corp and equipped Fought at Kursk. He was 17 and
shells for the tanks on the other
with T-34/85s and Josef Stalin IIs. an SS Ofcer Candidate leading
side of the Danube.
a Tiger Platoon
As you can see this was an interesting
situation for the Germans to nd
themselves in. Intense enemy re
made the bridge a death trap and
re-supply from the northern bank
to the soldiers on the southern side
was almost impossible. They were
running out of

ammunition
and the end was in sight.

Fought in the Ardennes

Fought in Normandy
Fought in Hungary before being
moved to the Vienna area
As of April 12th he had 97 kills
to his name
Friesens crew were also well
qualied, and in some cases
young: Sgt Gert
Ehegotz, the gunner
was 23 years old,
Cpl Fritz Sprieg, the
loader, was 19, Sgt Guenter Rau,
the radio operator, was 20 and the
oldest member of the crew was Sgt

65

Silence loomed over the crews

and this was eventually broken by
44 year old Sternauth who raised
his hand, apparently nudged his
commander and said Baby, were
going!
NOT FOR A MILLION
MARKS
That afternoon, following the
meeting and volunteering of the
crew for this suicide mission, was
spent lling the trailer with 92
rounds of 75mm ammunition for
the Panthers main gun, lling it
full of MG ammo and lling the

trailer with 50 more rounds of northern bank laying down re.

main gun ammo.
Sternauth and Friesen then walked
the bridge, memorising it and the
Later that day they said their holes that had been made in it, the
goodbyes and headed for the idea being to swerve at the right
bridge. Around 17:00 hours they times to miss them. Amazing as it
had parked near to the bridge and may seem Friesens tank crossed
set off on a foot recce. Dug in on the bridge with AT weaponry
the northern side of the bridge missing and small arms re rattling
was a battery of 88mm AA Flak off it.
guns (although we all know just
how nice an AT weapon this gun THE BATTLE FOR THE
made) and here Friesen chatted to PLAZA
the guns Luftwaffe commander, Lt As Friesen and his Panther tank
Struwe.
hit the other side of the bridge an
artillery barrage hit and shells were
He told Friesen of a large shell landing awfully close. The troops
crater in the middle of the bridge on this side ushered them into the
and when told of Friesens mission Plaza and into cover.
apparently remarked, Not for a
million marks would I drive across Friesen moved his tank next to the
that bridge, only the Waffen SS only other Panther on his side of the
could be so crazy!
bridge and dropped off the trailer,
urging the crew to take as much
Here is becomes even more ammo as they needed. Theyd been
amusing. Friesen decided that to get ghting for days and were almost
across the bridge he would need to exhausted of ammunition.
drive at full speed and under cover
of darkness. The Panther tank has Having stocked up the other
seven forward gears and to get to Panther, Friesen moved his tank
its top speed Friesen decided that it into a ruined house for the night. His
would take a 2 kilometre run up to crew rested and Friesen went to talk
hit the bridge at full speed.
to the other tank commander. Here
he learnt that the Soviet troops had
A coordinated assault was planned been kept at bay by experienced
with the Hummels
infantrymen with AT
hammering the Soviet
weapons (oh those
positions
lovely Panzerfausts)
and the
but that the situation
troops
was tricky and for
o n
the most still very
the
confusing.

conversation was about to come

to an end a tank appeared and was
identied as Soviet and all hell
broke loose. Infantrymen screamed
orders, Friesen headed back to his
tank and the Panther commander
traversed rear.
Somehow the Soviet tank managed
to evade the Germans and ew past
everyone, heading for its own lines.
But the confusion was enough to
allow a hunter killer team to move
through the buildings. Just as the
Germans thought they were safe
the Panther tank that was guarding
the road exploded, hit by a Soviet
bazooka red from one of the
buildings. The crew were killed
and the tank totalled.
Retribution was swift as the
infantry cleared the buildings
looking for the Soviet infantry that
had killed their comrades and all
who stood in their way, civilians or
military, were killed. It is here that
Friesen took control and restored
some order.
Friesen contacted RHQ and was
informed that he had to now
hold the bridgehead until the
following night. It was at 04:00
hours that he chose to move his
tank to the infantry command post
and meet with the commander,
Sturmbahnfuhrer Schmidt.

Here Friesen learned that the

only other operational tank was
a Panzer IV, four other tanks had
been knocked out that night and
Just as the things were not looking good on
the armour front. The infantry had
most of the surrounding buildings
now safely secured and rigged
with explosives. The idea being
that the bridgehead could collapse
around itself as and when they
elected to head across the river to
the northern bank.

The biggest problem was

blocking the roads that ran
down the rivers edge. It was
decided that to the left and right
of the bridge would be placed
barricades, composed of steel
railway lines that had been
scavenged.
Behind each was
a tank: to the west
the Panzer IV and to
the more dangerous east
Friesens Panther. In support of the
Panther were two 75mm AT guns.
BY DAWNS EARLY LIGHT
The next morning was to bring a
horde of Soviet armour closing
in on Friesen and his new found
battle group. The rst T-34 arrived
at 08:00 in the morning, trundling
down the eastern road and sighted
at around 900 yards. Friesen chose
to let it get much closer and it was
only when it made a sharp turn into
the buildings that Gunner Ehegotz
red.
The T-34 was hit at the rear right
and exploded into a shower of
metal shards this was the rst
of the 14 kills for the Panther that
day. During the rest of the morning
four more tanks attacked Friesens
position only to be blown to
pieces.

Friesen
u s e d
MG
re
to
hose the
tank
buildings and then
a plan was
red main gun HE to collapse
formed. The JS-II
the houses this ended the rie w a s located roughly 75m away
grenade attacks!
from the river road and covered in
infantrymen who were smoking
Soviet aircraft, in the shape of IL- and talking. Friesen now planned to
2 Sturmoviks, attacked numerous hunt the Soviet tank down, hoping
times that day by dropping bombs, to kill it before it had chance to hit
but with no accuracy and other his Panther with a 122mm shell.
than keeping Friesen and his crew The German infantry that would go
buttoned up the aircraft did little with the tank would be armed with
more than blow up some more automatic weapons and handheld
buildings.
AT weaponry.

Early afternoon saw a change

of pace to the battle and the
commander of the German infantry,
Obersturmfuhrer Weber, arrived to
tell Friesen that a heavy tank had
Oddly at lunchtime that day a jeep been spotted sitting just outside of
with what looked like drunken the German defensive perimeter.
Soviet troops in it waving
ags came into range and were It was soon identied as a Josef
despatched with MG re from the Stalin II (JS-II), which Friesen
knew to be a nasty piece of
tank.
machinery and one of the most
During the morning Soviet infantry powerful Soviet tanks to take to the
was moving through the ruined battleeld during WWII. Friesen
buildings and getting closer and dismounted and together with the
closer to the Panther tank. Many infantry commander he carried out
rie grenades hit the Panther but a foot recce to the area until they
could not penetrate its thick frontal found the JS-II.
armour.
Upon their return to the Panther
67

Friesen then went to his tank to

brief his crew. He opened up his
enemy recognition manual and
worked out the best place to aim a
shot. The JS-II, which Soviet troops
had nicknamed the Pike because of
its pointed nose, had armour that
ranged from 22mm to 120mm and
carried the formidable D-25 L/43
122mm gun which packed a punch
such that even the Panther met its
match against one of these beasts.
The only chance to kill it quickly
was by using guile and surprise.
Friesen had to hit it rst and hope
his gunner was accurate. The plan
had been brewed and now it was
time to hunt the prey.

The German infantry were to provide covering re,

not so much to damage the tank, but to mask the noise
of the Panther tank as it manoeuvred into the optimum
location to get a shot in.

The two then headed back to the Panther, which was

now repaired and moved out. At 22:30 hours the
Panzer IV moved across the bridge to safety and by
23:00 hours the last of the infantry followed. Then at
23:15 hours the Panther tank of SS Obersturmfuhrer
Arnold Friesen crossed safely.

The plan was to be a perfect one. A single shot from

the Panther hit the JS-II in the turret ring, penetrated
the thinner armour and exploded killing all inside and IN SUMMARY
destroying the Soviet heavy tank.
This is one of those inspirational stories. Im sure that
Friesens actions were accommodated by the poor
It was a total kill as the German infantry mopped up tankmanship of Soviet troops but you have to admire
the Soviet infantry. It was 14:15 hours.
his actions under re. Admittedly he was Waffen SS,
and therefore his actions may well be perceived by
Moving back to its position behind the barricade the some to be unworthy of praise, but putting that to one
Panther was again assaulted by Soviet infantry and side the Vienna Bridgehead was an excellent example
three more T-34s. These were soon destroyed.
of courage under re.
As this was taking place a Soviet AT gun crew had
moved into position, probably a 54mm gun, and it
red at the Panther, hitting the glacis plate just in
front of the radio operator. But it did not penetrate the
armour and was quickly demolished.

For his part in the action Friesen was told by Enseling

that he had done enough to earn the Knights Cross,
but it was not to be. Hitler, who personally conrmed
the recommendations for all such awards of gallantry,
was shortly to die in his bunker in Berlin.

Time for a quick rest but at 17:00 hours another

assault came in the shape of four more T-34s which
raced down the river road and round the curve to re
at Friesens Panther. Again Ehogotz hit them in the
ank and three out of the four were destroyed.

Also, while Friesen was busy being all heroic another

German tank Ace was in Vienna, Ernst Barkmann, who
was recovering after his Panther tank was hit during
an incident of friendly re with a Panzerfaust.

NOTE: There are several, shall we say issues, with

It was at this point that the Panthers turret jammed and the report in the book chapter that this article is taken
therefore a lull in the assaults was welcomed by the from. For starters, the book talks about Josef Stalin
crew. As his men started to repair the problem Friesen III tanks being deployed in Vienna. This wasnt the
and Rau stood guard outside an underground garage case - they were JS-II tanks from the 5th Guards Tank
they had found, armed with Panzerfausts. While this Corps.
was happening the German infantry started to move
across the bridge in small groups, their job done.
From Red Army Handbook 1939-1945 by S. Zaloga
and L. Ness:
Things were getting crowded around the Plaza and
around 20:30 hours the Soviet armour moved in to The JS-III entered production in May 1945, too late
take up a defensive pattern around the plaza. At this to see action, though small numbers served with the
point Friesen and Rau realised a major tactical aw Red Army in Manchuria against Japan.
in the Soviet plan: no infantry support. This made
the tanks vulnerable to attack and so the two grabbed No matter what the real outcome (and trust us were
their Panzerfausts and went tank hunting.
looking into this one) the story is a great one and
well worthy of gaming. We hope you enjoy it and we
Ordering the command post not to blow the bridge hope you manage to spot the book and enter our little
until his Panther had crossed safely Friesen moved competition.
out quietly into the Plaza to engage the tanks. Just
as they were about to re the Soviet vehicles red In the next Issue of Wargames Journal we will provide
up their engines and started to head off, the rst two a scenario based around this story. So watch out for
were ignored and then they opened re on two tanks, some seriously amusing Panther action!
killing them and marking their 13th and 14th kills of
the day.
68
68

69

Wargames Journal encountered Ian Marsh sometime ago when a wargaming

acquaintance of Neil Fawcett had some superb 15mm AB British gures painted by
a chap calling himself Fighting 15s. In recent times Ian has moved him away from his
painting and into ventures new as he now represents several gure manufacturers, To kick start
this interview we asked Ian to provide some background on himself and his passion for wargaming:
FIGHTING 15S
My main aim is to stock gures that other people
dont stock, or which are not widely available (my
USP, so to speak). I also remember when I started
how frustrating it was to wait three to four weeks for
parcels of gures to arrive (from Minigs if I name
names, but that was way back in the mid 1970s), so
I aim for same or next day dispatch for all items in
stock.

that used all the old devices of canister patterns,

bounce sticks and such. I havent really looked back,
though I have taken detours.

Just as Bruce Quarries rules and national factors were

making life impossible with my late period Prussian
army - I picked them by default as other friends had
the other major nations - I was introduced to D&D.
After an exciting period which involved producing
DragonLords fanzine with founder editors Mike
Inevitably, that sometimes goes awry for items that Lewis (Black Hat Miniatures) and Marc Gascoigne
are out of stock, as the four to ve week delivery time (now at Games Workshops Black Library), and
from Oz cant economically be shortened. As you several years at Games Workshop on White Dwarf
know, Ive switched from painting service to stockist (leaving as editor in 1986, with issue 77s infamous
and distributor about two years ago because dodgy valedictory contents-page message of Sod Off Bryan
eyesight means I cant paint for long on the days Ansell), I slipped into sub-editing on magazines and
that I can paint: I have some very patient customers, copy editing books.
however, who are prepared to wait however long it
takes. I can tell you how I found out about Eureka if I somehow managed to persuade Virgin Books to
you want. :-)
publish a Doctor Who role-playing game, Time
Lord, in 1991, and still encounter groups who use the
ABOUT ME AND MY HOBBY
rules. A chance meeting with Mike Lewis in a pub in
I began making Airx kits, starting with a Lysander which I said I was thinking about getting back into
that my dad bought me when I was ill with mumps
Napoleonics - Mike already had, six months
in the 1960s. After a move of house broke most
previously - ended up with me playing
of my planes, I picked up on Airx Napoleonic
historicals again, this time choosing the
plastic soldiers in the 70s. In 1972 one friend
1806 Prussian army of my own free will. I
told
me
rules were available for
delight in winning with it.
playing
w i t h
them,
and so I
If you want to be dull, I tted in a
started
playing
degree in Materials Technology
with
a set of
(Metallurgy) between 1979 and
rules by T
1983, producing an issue of
J Halsall
DragonLords at the same
time as doing my nals.
The magazine seemed
more important. In spite
of wargaming for the
best part of four years, I
still ended up with what
was a good wargamers
degree (a 2:2) compared

with my peers. An industrial year placement at IBM version of the game that is currently being play
in Havant killed any idea that Materials Technology tested.
could be fun, but allowed me to discover Gales HSB.
I have barely looked back...
Oozlum Games, my rules publishing venture, derives
its name from the Oozlum bird. Its meant to convey
ABOUT RULES
the idea of reducing complexity to nothing. I evidently
I still largely play Napoleonics. Like every other like Carry On lms.
gamer that comes back into the hobby, I spent some
time sorting out what rules to use. Mike and I began WJ: People always make excuses that they cant paint
using Bruce Quarries Napoleons Campaigns in because they were rubbish at art in school. Have you
Miniature, picking up where wed left off almost 20 always been artistic or was it something you had to
years beforehand and eventually settled on Shako as a really work at?
simple modern set of rules that moved along quickly.
Some of my friends say I can draw, but I wouldnt say
After reading some comments, largely rude and not that I was a great artist. As far as school art classes
very favourable, about Piquet, I took a chance on the went, I had a sense of colour and of pattern.
game after reading designer Bob Joness notes on
what he was trying to achieve. It was a worthwhile I had plenty of opportunity to practise on Airx
gamble, because Piquet: Les Grognards provided gures when I started wargaming at the age of 12, so
about ve years of often exciting games. Piquet and making mistakes wasnt expensive. It probably took
Warmaster (the best set of rules that Rick Priestley about two years to get to the point where I could rattle
has ever written) provided a source of ideas that off units with neat crossbelts and clearly dened areas
eventually developed into Huzzah!, my own morale- of colour, which was pretty much the state of the art
based tactical Napoleonic rules.
in my gaming circle in 1974. My dad actually painted
my rst Airx gures, and evidently had some talent
Mike Lewis, of course, has created Martian Empires that way; I used his examples as a pattern and took it
from the ideas in Huzzah! and he in turn has inspired from there.
ideas for Huzzah! Second Edition: a grand tactical

71

What really changed how I painted was a switch to

painting characters for roleplaying games. A plain
block colour scheme really didnt do the gures
justice, so I started mixing and blending colours. The
switch from enamel to acrylic paints - I have never
got on with oils - made the blending even easier,
especially given I was focusing on one gure instead
of whole battalions.

black as a primer to deaden the rst shade coat, and

build up brightness with the mid-tones and highlights.
I also prefer to blend the edges of layers, mainly using
thinner coats of paint so there is some translucence to
the edges of each new layer.

I also hate the trend for painting fake folds and shadows
where none can exist, as it shows painters have no
sense of how material hangs or where the shadows
I had to learn how to do that myself as painting guides really should be. Some applications of layering end
just didnt exist; todays hobbyists are far better off in up with trousers depicted as if theyve been laid out
terms of having someone explain how to paint, with in crazy paving, or craggy, lined faces that look as if
step-by-step examples.
theyve seen 80 years of life, not 18. I think you can
dene the lines of a face and give it character with a
When I switched back to 15mm historicals from few simple brush strokes.
28mm single gures, I had to relearn techniques again,
simplifying what I had learned to suit the smaller size. All that said, scaling a layering technique down to
I still have some of my original paint jobs in a box to 15mm gures requires some sacrices. Two tones are
remind me of what I was like when I started. I just enough for most wargamers, and provide the right
dont show them to anyone.
effect from a short distance away. These can be built
up in several thin applications rather than just two
WJ: We know that you have scaled back your painting, distinct layers. Ill pick a harder shadow colour for
but when you were punting out large numbers of smaller gures so that it shows more effectively at a
gures how would you describe your style? E.G. distance.
black undercoat and layered shades etc
Give me a single fantasy or SF character, though and
Working up from black is pretty much essential to Ill still blend paint and use washes.
get any sort of speed. It means that any crevices that
get missed stay black and unnoticed in the bulk of WJ: How do you think painting has changed in the
the unit. Painting up from white needs very careful last 10 years? To us things seem to have been heavily
application of subsequent coats, and touching up is an inuenced by the GW/Foundry approach, away from
inevitable part of the process.
the so-called super realistic enamel based approach to
an almost cartoon/animation style; deep, often black
I use an adapted layered technique. Having said that line shading, over highlighted features.
it doesnt matter if crevices are left black, I dont
actually like the hard black lines left by painters such Do enamels really give a super-realistic nish? They
as Kevin Dallimore. I prefer to use a deeper shade give more of a nish associated with traditional toy
of colour, which gives a softer effect. So Id use the soldiers.

The Games Workshop/Foundry approach is just one,

highly publicised way to paint gures. Its advantage
is that it is publicly on view in shops in most major
towns, and it ideally suits the physical grotesques that
some 28mm manufacturers produce. But if you look at
some wargames magazines and demonstration games
at shows, its evident that painting hasnt changed for
decades.

example, by using layering.

Whatever technique may be in vogue, there are usually

only a few gamers at each club who are acknowledged
as really talented with a brush. Many wargamers are
quite happy with simple block colours or with using
dry-brushing to provide contrast (and dry-brushing is
really only a scrappy way of achieving layering).

WJ: Do you have a favourite subject to paint?

When Citadel rst introduced its acrylics they were

thin and more suited to blending and washes; looking
back, they were ideal for how I then painted because
they built up colour in thin coats. That sort of approach
is probably unsuitable for wargamers who want paint
that covers evenly in one go.

I love Napoleonic gures, and have done since I

started. The bright colours and variety in full dress
uniforms mean that theres always something different
to do if, for example, I get fed up painting French
line infantry or Austrians. I really like painting 1806
The GW approach, however, understands that to get Prussians, which are quite colourful with their varied
gures to look right on the table, colours need to be facings and pompoms. I am very tempted to start on
brighter and details more exaggerated. When layering gures for the Mexican-American War, because the
and the Foundry Paint System are brought in, it makes Mexicans are a riot of colour.
the process easy to explain, reducing it to painting
by numbers. You still need a good eye for detail, WJ: Whats the hardest uniform you have ever had to
for colour and for a straight line, but striking results paint, in terms of getting it to look accurate without
are more easily and more quickly achieved than by going mad!
blending paints.
Napoleonic Highlanders, without a doubt. One client
What you can do is get a number of painters to all even apologised for sending me a second battalion of
paint in the same way, using the same colours, which them to paint. However, I cracked the style for them
is ideal if you have a corporate style to maintain. doing display gures for Eurekas Crimean War range
Applied rigidly, I dont think it encourages good and now they hold no fear. Although Highlanders
painting techniques, because painting by numbers require intricate brushwork. Im almost happier
does not create masterpieces. And even painting by knowing that I can get Austrian or Spanish infantry to
numbers can produce disasters.
work effectively - and thats just a question of using
whites and off-whites well.
I think there are enough painters, primarily of
fantasy and science ction gures, who use blending WJ: Gloss or Matt which nish and why?
successfully to show that there is another way. They
dont achieve stunning non-metallic metal effects, for I use matt varnish over a coat of gloss. Gloss is durable,

but I cant really live with the bright highlights, which

make photographing gures impossible. Matt varnish
helps unify the different nishes of the paints I use (I
dont have a preferred brand, I pick paints based on
the colours). However, nding a good matt varnish
has been a challenge, and the only reliable varnishes
I have found are all brush-on. Cryla Soluble Matt
Varnish for Acrylics is my nal coat of choice (it has
to be stirred very well), over Ronseal Diamond-Hard
Floor Varnish.

as Eureka Miniatures, Shadowforge, Black Hat

Miniatures and Oddzial Osmy. What is it about these
gures that led you into selling white metal?
Theyre gures that no one else has, or which very
few people stock and which I think should be better
known. Also, theyre good quality gures - ones that
I would be happy to own, paint and play games with.
I dont want to feel embarrassed about the quality of
the gures I sell.

WJ: How much do you think the base sets off the Eureka Miniatures was a chance nd. Id seen
gure? Sometimes average gures can be lifted with examples of its new 18mm British Napoleonics by
a great basing style.
sculptor Alan Marsh (alas, no relation) and noticed
postings in a forum about whether Eureka had a UK
Basing is important. It wont save a poor gure, but distributor, so I wrote to Nic Robson at Eureka and
it really complements a good gure. Theres no point asked whether he would like one. So I started out with
putting all the effort into painting a masterpiece, only Eureka with the grand total of two boxes of British
to paint the base green and leave it sitting proud on infantry under my desk. That swelled to four with the
a square of cardboard or ocked with lurid green arrival of the Seven Years Picnic bears and now I can
and yellow sawdust. It doesnt take much to do a barely move for boxes of toy soldiers.
fair basing job either, but I prefer to keep basing at,
uncluttered and durable - I want to notice the gures Oddzial Osmy was a maker I rst enquired about
more than I want to notice the bases.
when its gures were exclusively available as Mirage
gures. Mark Severin (who now runs Scale Creep in
WJ: So with all of your new business ventures how the US) provided samples and a contact, but it wasnt
much time do you get to game? And what was your until Oddzial Osmy decided it wanted to develop its
last game?
ranges independently that it became viable to stock
them. Mirage gures were only available through
I have managed to play twice this year, and typically the modelling distribution channel and at prices that
get to play about once a month. The problem is not would make many gamers think again. Theyre now
so much to do with the business, but with a shortage much better priced, and I think the ranges of 1:600
of regular opponents in this part of the Isle of Wight. Modern vehicles and the 15mm Medievals have real
In effect Ive become a binge wargamer: that once a potential once they become more extensive.
month can turn into four games over a weekend with
the right visitor.
My involvement with Black Hat stems from
wargaming at school in the mid 1970s, when I played
Both the recent games were play tests for Huzzah! 2, games against Mike Lewis, who now runs Black Hat.
the grand tactical version of the Napoleonic wargame Mike was looking for a shop front for his new Martian
I released on the web in 1993. Its looking pretty Empires range of gures, and I was happy to provide
stable now as a game, is quick and fun to play and the service. We work as a team at shows, and still play
produces reasonable results. I have a few denitions wargames together. I am worried, however, because
to tidy up, and then Ill think about laying it out ready Mike has learned
that my luck changes for the
for release.
better if we break
for dinner during a game last time, we ate
before we played,
W J :
You carry several ranges and
I
lost.
o
f
gures such

The Mid-70s

Today

Shadowforge is just a great range of female warriors

that arent tacky or likely to make me blush when
I sell them. Nice girls with guns or swords. Im
looking forward to painting some of the Valkyries for
display.

was roll 1s or 2s. So I rallied the cavalry and stopped

it plunging through my infantry. Auerstadt did not go
the way of the French that day.

If I am allowed to expand a little, it helps to support

your hands at the wrist to keep them steady. I paint
using a le box on my desktop so that my hands are
supported at the right working height, and also lower
my chair as much as possible to bring the gure up
to my eyes. Clip-on magniers for glasses also help
shorten focal length, and improve working distance clip-ons also move with your head and are a far more
practical solution than stand-based magniers. For
me, its not so much the power of magnication that
helps - I use a moderate 1.5x magnier - but the closer
working distance.

If youre asking me about periods and scales, I think

thats impossible to predict. I have a preference, rather
than a prediction: Id like to see sculpting in 25/28mm
move away from the current fad for fat bas$%*ds
with banana ngers.

Rallying four Prussian cavalry units in a reght of

Auerstadt with my friend Andy Finkel. We were using
Piquet, a set of rules by Bob Jones, a writer whom I
rate highly. I had a leader rated as Abysmal and was
rolling a four-sided die against Andys six- or eightsided dice. I beat him on every roll, because all he did

But I dont think it will dominate, because an equal

part of the hobby for some people is collecting and
painting their own toy soldiers. Besides, someone
will always look at pre-painted gures and believe
that they can do a better job.

As an aside, I even designed Huzzah! so that rolling

1s would be good for Andy and make the most of
WJ: For all the budding miniature painters out there, his natural talent. Of course, he now rolls boxcars
what would you say is your top tip to help them on instead.
their way to a better nish?
WJ: We have seen trends and styles in wargaming
Simply to take care. A basic paint job carefully done change over time and tastes move from one ideal to
will look better than a slapdash attempt at a complex another. Looking forwards, what do you think the
one.
future holds for the hobby?

I think we will see more pre-painted gures available

at reasonable prices as more paint shops spring up in
the Far East and the attraction of buying ready-painted
gures will therefore grow. Once gamers who hate
painting can get their gures ready to use for games,
in bulk and at an affordable price, it may well have
implications for the hobby, and certainly for some of
Dont use paint too thick: as in home decorating, two or the domestic markets cheap and cheerful painting
more thin coats are better than one thick one. Multiple services.
thin coats will also help you achieve a natural shading
effect working up from a black base coat, if you dont One can imagine the appeal to newcomers of
paint into folds and crevices on secondary coats.
wargames sets offered for sale with all the gures
already painted, very much in the way that traditional
WJ: What is your fondest wargaming memory?
toy soldiers once grabbed the imagination.

75

76

The Cooler King

When we rst came across Ebob Miniatures the Stalagluft III game
inspired us to organise our own prison break. We got hold of some
gures and downloaded the PDF sheets to print out for prisoner
barracks. Now it would appear that this superb game idea (the white
metal gures are well worth looking at) is being turned into a board
game. Make sure your speakers are turned up when you go to http://
www.stalagluftiii.co.uk

77

THE GALLIC WARS

In the 1st century BC, Roman legionnaires, led by
Gaius Julius Caesar fought a long and bloody conict
with the Gauls. Though Caesar himself would describe
the wars as reactionary, being defensive measures
taken to ensure Romes safety, it is safe to say that
Caesars motives were purely to increase his political
standing and gain wealth. By the time of the conicts
he had acquired huge debts of many creditors and a
protable war was a good way of clearing them.

successful in conquering Gaul, came perilously close

to defeat on more than occasion. The rst being in
57 BCE when the Romans suffered a surprise attack
by the Belgae tribe, while the Romans made camp in
what is now Belgium. The second close call came in
55 BCE when Caesar led his men across the sea to
Briton, when a storm in the English Channel wrecked
much of his eet.

In 54 BCE the Gauls of the Eburones tribe rebelled

and decimated the 14th Legion, killing fteen whole
The Gallic Wars consisted of numerous skirmishes cohorts of legionnaires in a masterly executed ambush.
and a series of large battles that fall into three phases. Caesars wrath knew no bounds and he in turned
The wars begun with Roman involvement into the wiped out the Eburones and their allies. The rst
wars fought between the different Gallic peoples, but major success for the Gauls would sow the seeds of a
quickly turned to conquest and nally the subjugation far greater rebellion came later, under the command
of
continuous
rebellions.
of Vercingetorix, leader of the Arverni tribe.
Caesars legions,
t h o u g h
ultimately

CAESARS RIVAL
Vercingetorix achieved a huge diplomatic feat and
united the Gauls against their common enemy. He
knew that even with the full might of the Gauls he
could not defeat the legions in open battle and so he
set about trying to starve them out. His forces burnt
crops and slaughtered livestock to try and deprive the
Romans of supplies.

starve the Gauls into surrending. To make sure the

Gauls could not escape the town Caesar had his
legions construct a fortied wall around the town.
Around four metres in height, the wall encircled
Alesia completed and was, in total, 18 km in length.
Amazingly this only took three weeks to build. In
front of this wall there were three ditches, one and
a half metres in depth and two, four and half a metre
in width. One of the ditches, closest to the wall, was
even ooded with water channelled by nearby rivers.

This tactic worked to a certain extent, in part because

Caesar was away from Gaul at that time, but he
returned quickly to put his legions back on the right
track. He set after the Gauls but was defeated at During the construction Gaulish cavalry made
Gergovia.
repeated raids to prevent the completion, but Germanic
auxilliary cavalry kept them at bay. Caesars efforts
The battle took place in 52 BC at Gergovia, the would not stop there however, and he constructed a
capital of the Arveni. Caear, too eager to decimate the second wall, 21 km in length around the rst wall,
Gauls, underestimated the towns defences and seven facing outwards, to defend against the anticipated
hundred legionnaires died assaulting it. The Gaulish Gaulish relief army.
victory was short lived however and Caesar fought
Vercingetorix one last time at Alesia
Ultimately a Gaulish army did come to the aid of
Vercingetorix, but it was defeated and Vercingetorix,
THE BATTLE OF ALESIA
half starved, was forced to surrender. Though smaller
The nal chapter in the Gallic Wars is worthy of an rebellions would arise they had little impact and
article all to itself, but actually gaming the battle is nally, after years of ghting, Gaul was Romes.
nigh on impossible for the average wargamer. Read
on and youll understand why.
THE SCENARIO
This battle takes place during the rebellion of
Alesia was a hill-top town that was the capital Vercingetorix, when Caesar was still in Rome. A small
of the Mandubii tribe in which Caesar besieged Roman outpost stands isolated in the grasslands of
around 80,000 Gauls under the lead of his arch rival, central Gaul and has been selected by Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix. How Caesar won the battle is the stuff as one of the rst targets to destroy.
of military legend and surely places him high up in
the list of all time great generals.
Sending off a detachment of chariots and cavalry to
harass the cohort of legionnaires garrisoned nearby, he
After being defeated at Gerovia in similar has lured the Romans away from the outpost and has
circumstances, Caesar had no intentions of an all out sent in fast moving troops to burn it down before the
assault against Alesia, which was far more defensible legionnaires can return to defend it. However, Roman
than Gerovia had been. Instead he opted to try and cavalry and Germanic auxiliaries have raced back to
79

Romans
Ofcer

Gauls

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
8 5 5 3 3 3 6 2 9 4+

Chieftain

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
8 5 5 4 4 2 5 3 6 3+

Notes: Drilled, stubborn, light armour, shield and

spear.

Notes: Throwing spear, light armour, shield, chariot,

warband and fear.

Cavalry

Chariots

Roman

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
8 4 4 3 3 1 4 1 8 4+

Warrior

Notes: Leader, drilled, stubborn, spear, light armour

and shield.
Auxiliaries
Germans

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
8 4 4 3 4 1 4 2 5 4+

Notes: Javelin, chariot, warband and fear.

Noble Cavalry

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
8 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 6 4+

Warrior

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
8 4 4 3 3 1 4 1 6 4+

Notes: Leader, spear, light armour and shield.

Notes: Leader, throwing spear, light armour, shield

and warband

Scorpio

Light Cavalry

Crew
Scorpio

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
4 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7 4+
6 2

Warrior

Notes: Leader, shield, light cavalry and warband.

Notes: Stubborn, light armour and shield

Onager
Crew
Onager

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
8 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 6 4+

M WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
4 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7 4+
7 3

Notes: Stubborn, light armour and shield

80
80

the outpost to defend it from the Gaulish attackers.

The attacking force consists purely of cavalry and

chariots and is deployed at one corner of the board,
THE MAP
opposite from where the Romans come on. The aim of
We played this scenario on a 4 x 4 gaming table with the game is to burn the outpost to the ground and only
the outpost in the very centre of the table. Apart from the fastest units in the Gaulish army have a chance of
a few trees there was no other scenery to allow the achieving this goal before the legionnaires arrive.
fast moving troops on both sides to be used to best
effect. The orbats provided with this scenario are for To burn the outpost the Gauls are armed with burning
forces of around 750 points each, which is perfect for torches with which to throw at the outpost. To make
this size table, but if you wish to game with larger a successful throw a Gaul unit must come within
forces then a 6 x 6 table is suggested.
6 of the outpost. Make a shooting attack for each
model within the unit (one for each Gaul in a chariot),
We also tested the game using a variety of gures. and every throw that hits is said to have landed
On the 4 x 4 table we used an enlarged 15mm scale somewhere where the ames of the torch will spread
army, taken from our DBA/DBM armies and on the to the outpost.
larger tables we dabbled with 28mm scale miniatures.
Either scale works and the Orbats can be easily altered Each torch that causes a hit will wound on a roll of
to match your own gure collections.
4+. When the Outpost has taken 20 wounds it is so
THE GAULS
engulfed in ames that no amount of legionnaires will

81

In the next issue this rather odd bunch

clash in a scenario full of surprises as
Major Dick Blunt (poor name we know
and were still looking for someone to
blame) leads his men into action ...

82

be able to put it out. Once a unit has thrown its torches

it can only throw more if it does not move, in the same
way that a crossbow res. This is because the Gauls
can only carry one lighted torch at a time and so once
thrown they must pause to light another. .
Gaul Orbats
1 x Chieftain in chariot
2 x Units of 4 chariots
2 x Units of 5 noble cavalry
2 x Units of 5 light cavalry
THE ROMANS
The Roman cavalry have arrived just in time, or to be
more exact some of the cavalry has arrived in time.
To see which units are deployed at the start of the
game roll a D6 for each unit, adding 1 for units of
light cavalry. On a roll of 5+ they can be deployed at
the start.
Roll again for each unit at the start of the subsequent
turns until all units have arrived. New arrivals must
be deployed at the edges of the board, but can move
normally on the turn they arrive.
The Romans do start with two pieces of artillery in
the outpost, a Scorpio on the parapet and an Onager

83

behind the wall. These represent all that is left of the

defenders of the outpost. As they are ghting to avoid
being burned alive they are immune to psychology
and do not have to make leadership tests for panic.
Roman Orbats
1 x Junior ofcer
1 x Scorpio
1 x Onager
3 x Units of 5 cavalry
4 x Units of 5 auxiliaries
ENDING THE GAME
The game will end if the outpost runs out of wounds. If
this happens the Gauls have won and they immediately
withdraw victoriously. However, if the Romans
succeed in either killing all of the Gauls or driving
them from the battleeld before the outpost runs out
of wounds then the victory goes to the Romans.

Zulu! How can you ever forget such a movie? Stellar performances and a story of heroism,
the stuff of legends. But the Zulu battles of 1879 were bloody affairs. We thought wed take a
close look at the battles and provide some materials that may help you game this fascinating
Colonial period.
The Zulu War of 1879 nally was in essence the
bloody result of two years of political activity by the
British that was designed to remove the last challenge
to their Imperial power in southern Africa.

favour. But it was determined that in order to reduce

the threat the Zulus posed a condition of peace was
that the Zulus would have to give up their military
system which was key to their culture.

Under the rule of Shaka, the leader who unied the

tribes many years bfore this war started, Zululand
had become a powerful kingdom, but the colonial
expansion engine was in full swing and no lands
were safe. The British were expanding from the south
in Natal and the Boers, the Dutch settlers, were
expanding from the west in the area known as the
Transvaal.

A condition the King Cetshwayo could never accept.

So Lord Chelmsford decided to invade Zululand with
3 columns leaving 2 more to protect Natal and the
Transvaal. Chelmsford expected the Zulus to behave
like the other African Armies he had fought and prove
elusive and unwilling to ght large scale actions. This
was a major error on his part.

Various efforts to resolve the situation failed and so it

was decided that the only course of action remaining
was war. This was ironic considering that a short
time before this decision was made representatives of
the Zulu nation were summoned to a meeting of the
Border Commission which actually found in the Zulus

The ill fated battle of Isandlwana demonstrates

this, one of the few occasions that a British force
has been destroyed by a native force. Rorkes Drift
was somehow turned into a victory and was to be
immortalised in the movie Zulu with Michael Caine
and Stanley Baxter.

84

I guess you can split the War into three distinct

chunks:

you can game the battles of Ulundi, Khambula and

Gingindlovu in our mind they do not make for a very
interesting game. Now Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift,
Part 1: The costly mistakes of Isandhlwana and they make for some interesting games.
Rorkes Drift.
Part 2: Lessons learnt Khambula and Gingindlovu.
The best advice we can give is to split the battles
Part 3: Total victory Ulundi.
into linked games whose results affect each other.
For example we played Isandlwana in three stages.
There were several smaller encounters, such as the ill First we played a pitched battle with additional rules
fated attack by irregular horsemen Hlobane mountain allowing the Zulus to enter the board from three
which cost 15 ofcers and 79 men dead, but the ve edges and to recycle their units. This represented
battles above just about sunm up the entire wart as it the overwhelming nature of their attack quite well.
was.
The British had to hold out as long as possible before
retreating off their own table edge. The second game
The Battle of Ulundi was to see the end of hostilities, we played with the Zulus attacking from all sides
bar some sporadic skirmishing, and Zulu nation was and a small British force defending a group of ammo
smashed and split up into 13 kingdoms which were wagons in the centre of the table, this was more of a
given to pro British Africans. Sadly this was to only pride game for the British to see how long they could
end in disaster and civil war a few years later.
hold out before being overrun. Finally we played a
small skirmish game involving a section of cavalry
WARGAMING THE PERIOD
trying to escape the slaughter.
The magazines collction of Zulu War gures are
from Newline Designs and are 20mm scale. These The later battles in the war are not quite as interesting
are excellent miniatures and have plenty of character as the British had learnt their lessons and the Zulus
to them. Using this scale also allows us to use plastic were unable to get past the defences put up by the
gures from a number of suppliers to kit out such British defensive squares. However this is where
things as dead gures and chieftans.
you can play some fantastic What If? games. For
instance, what if during the Battle of Gingindlovu the
There were certainly some very inspiring moments 60th Ries had not held their ground, would it have
during the Anglo-Zulu war but these inspiring bee another slaughter? We are planning on playing
moments came during the beginning of the war when this one very soon
Great Britain got it all terribly wrong. Although

85

It was on the 22nd of January 1897 that a terrible blow

was struck against the British forces in Zululand.
The place was 10 miles east of the Tugela River in
Zululand, South Africa and here the 1st Battalion,
24th Foot, was massacred at the hands of the Zulus at
the Battle of Isandlwana.

Colonel Evelyn Wood VC (won in the Indian Mutiny)

of the 90th Light Infantry commanded the column that
crossed the Tugela into the North of Zululand.

In command of the British force were Lieutenant

Colonel Pulleine of the 24th Foot and Lieutenant
Colonel Durnford. The Zulu Army was commanded by
Chiefs Ntshingwayo kaMahole and Mavumengwana
kaMdlela Ntuli.

Colonel Glynn of the 24th Foot commanded the

Centre Column, comprising both battalions of the
24th Foot, units of the Natal Native Infantry, Natal
irregular horse and Royal Artillery.

Numbers are always tricky to get accurate but the

British comprised some 1,200 men and they were
attacked by around 12,000 Zulus.
BRITISH ORDERS OF BATTLE
2 x Guns and 70 men of N Battery, 5th Brigade, Royal
Artillery (equipped with two seven pounder guns).
5 x Companies of 1st Battalion, the 24th Foot
1 x Company of 2nd Battalion, the 24th Foot
2 x Companies of the Natal Native Infantry
Mounted volunteers and Natal Police
THE UNTHINKABLE HAS HAPPENED
Who would have thought that a native army could
destroy a force from one of the most powerful nations
of the world? With nothing more powerful than their
primitive stabbing weapons the Zulus defeated troops
of a western power armed with modern ries and
artillery, nay they wiped the force out. This was total
victory.

Colonel Pearson of the 3rd Foot (the Buffs)

commanded in the south, by the Indian Ocean coast.

WIPE OUT
Lord Chelmsford accompanied the Centre Column
into Zululand on 11th January, crossing the Tugela
River at Rorkes Drift. Its plan was to head for Ulundi,
Cetshwayos principal kraal, and would then join up
wit Pearsons southern column for the nal assault on
the Zulu nation.
At this point a Company of the 2nd Battalion, 24th
Foot, remained at Rorkes Drift, the advanced base
for the column. Well talk more about these chaps a
little later.
From the start Chelmsfords original plan was
troubled, he had after all planned for 5 columns to
cross the Tugela. But a shortage of troops forced him
to reorganise into the 3 columns.

The disaster at Isandlwana was a wake up call for the

British Empire. The complete loss of a battalion of
troops set shock waves back home and you could
say it transformed a nations view of war.

Now he headed for Isandlwana Hill, which can be

seen from Rorkes Drift, and which is located 10
miles inside Zulu land. With the British on their way
Cetshwayo mobilised massive Zulu armies, some
24,000 warriors it is believed. This force then split
into two, with one section heading for the Southern
Column and the remainder making for Chelmsfords
Centre Column.

So what happened? The Zulu Wars started as a

campaign of expansion. Britain as ever wanted
more and the commander-in-chief in South Africa,
Lord Chelmsford, considered the independent Zulu
Kingdom ruled by Cetshwayo to be a threat to the
British colony of Natal which bordered Zululand
along the Tugela River.

The Centre Column reached Isandlwana on 20th

January 1879 and encamped on its lower slopes. The
next day Major Dartnell led a mounted reconnaissance
in the direction of the advance. He encountered the
Zulus in strength and engaged them. His scouting
force eventually disengaged from the Zulus until the
early hours of 22nd January 1879.

To start the campaign off Lord Chelmsford divided Upon hearing of the enemy approaching Lord
his force into three columns.
Chelmsford chose to advance against the Zulus with
a sizeable enough force to destroy them. The 2nd
86

Battalion, 24th Foot, the Mounted Infantry and 4 guns disappeared and now a search began of the hills.
would march out as soon as it was light.
The Zulus had bypassed Lord Chelmsfords force
and moved on Isandlwana. The rst sign in the camp
Colonel Pulleine was to command the camp with the that there was a problem was when parties of Zulus
1st Battalion of the 24th Foot and orders were sent to were seen on the hills to the north east and then to the
Colonel Durnford to bring his column up to reinforce east.
the camp. On the morning of 22nd January Lord
Chelmsford advanced with his force and eventually At this time Colonel Pulleine ordered his command
joined up with major Dartnell.
to form to the east, the direction in which the Zulus
had appeared. Pulleine dispatched a message to
This is where it all goes wrong the Zulus had Chelmsford informing him that Zulu warriors were

87

threatening the camp. It was around 10am when

Colonel Durnford arrived at Isandlwana with a party
of mounted men and a rocket troop.
Durnford then left the camp to follow up reports of
attack and Captain Cavayes company of the 1st/24th
was placed in picquet on a hill to the North.
Durnfords mounted troops then searched for the
Zulus. One troop of mounted volunteers pursued a
party of Zulus but where in for a big shock as the
entire Zulu army appeared. It seems that the arrival
of the mounted troops caught the Zulus by surprise
as well!

of British foot and the irregulars commanded by

Durnford.
Zulu chiefs took this opportunity to encourage
the warriors of the chest, that had been until now
pinned down by the 24ths re, to renew their assault.
This new attack forced the British troops to fall back
into the encampment. Then a Zulu regiment rushed
between the withdrawing British centre and the camp
and the horns broke in on each ank. It all collapsed
at this point.

With the steady line broken groups of British formed

and fought the Zulus until their ammunition ran out
One of Durnfords ofcers rode back to Isandlwana and they were killed. It is reported that a section of
to warn the camp that it was about to be attacked. Natal Carbineers commanded by Durnford provided
Ironically Pulleine had just received a message from heavy re until they too ran out of ammo, choosing
Chelmsford ordering him to move up to join the rest to then ght with pistols and knives until they were
of the column. But this wasnt to be as he now had to also killed.
react to the impending crisis.
Only mounted troops escaped this attack and any foot
It becomes unclear a this point whether Pulleine or troops who ran into the hills were chased down and
any of his other ofcers understood the severity of killed.
the situation. The force bearing down on them was
immense and mistakes were made. Pulleine sent a Isandlwana was over and the death toll is 52 British
second company under Captain Mostyn to join Captain ofcers and 806 non-commissioned ranks killed.
Cavayes on the hill and 2 guns were moved to the left Some 60 Europeans survived the battle. Another 471
of the camp with companies of foot to support them. Africans died ghting for the British. Zulu casualties
have to be estimated and are set at around 2,000 dead.
The leading edge of the Zulu force overwhelmed The Zulus captured 1,000 ries with the whole of the
Durnfords rocket troop, although the Royal Artillery columns reserve ammunition supply.
crews did manage to escape. Now the main Zulu
frontal assault started and Mostyns and Cavayes Following the battle, upon hearing the news of the
companies hastily withdrew to the camp, pausing to disaster Lord Chelmsford is said to have said But
re as they went.
I left 1,000 men to guard the camp. His column
returned to the horror at Isandlwana and camped near
To start with the battle started well for the British. the battleeld and in the distance they could see the
Pulleines troops red several volleys into the Rorkes Drift mission station burning. Chelmsford
oncoming Zulu force and the mixture of gunre and knew that the Zulus had crossed the Tugela.
difcult ground meant the Zulu chest eventually
went to ground. But the chest was not the problem The defeat at Isandlwana was to galvanise the British
for the British. As this was going on the Zulu horns Government into action, determined to avenge the
raced to nd the end of the British ank and envelope defeat reinforcements were dispatched to Natal.
it.
General Sir Garnet Wolseley was also sent to replace
Lord Chelmsford, arriving after the nal battle of the
ENCIRCLEMENT
war.
On the British right the companies of the 24th and the
NNI were unable to prevent this envelopment and the It would seem that Cetshwayos success at Isandlwana
Zulus managed to inltrate between the companies secured his downfall.
88

89

Its fair to say that most people have seen the Zulu
movie Lord knows its been on television enough.
Most people probably have no idea whats going on
though; Michael Caine and Stanley Baker dressed in
red killing a load of natives.

Engineers, and Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead of the

24th Foot held off a concerted attack by Zulu warriors
commanded by Prince Dabulamanzi kaMapande.

Rorkes Drift is offered to us as an example of heroism

in the face of overwhelming odds. When you consider
that 139 British troops held off 4,500 Zulu warriors it
is only reasonable that we think this way.

B Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot

Men of the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Army
Service Corps, Commissariat and Medical Corps.

The garrison is located near to the Tugela River

in Natal Province and on the 22nd January 1879
its commanders - Lieutenant John Chard, Royal

The 139 British troops broke down as follows:

Hardly a volume of soldiers. What Rorkes Drift

represents is the antithesis of Isandlwana. At one
battle we were slaughtered and at another we did the
killing. Here we have Bromheads B Company, 2nd

90
90

Battalion of the same regiment that was destroyed the wall of biscuit barrels linking the mission house
clinging to a victory, well a victory of sorts.
with the mealie wall. As night fell the British withdrew
to the centre of the station where a nal defensive
So here we have a single company of infantry at a bastion had been hastily assembled. The light from
mission station taking shelter behind a wall of biscuit the burning hospital assisted the British in their re.
tins! In charge were the company colour sergeant,
Frank Bourne and a sole ofcer Michael Caine (aka Savage attacks came and were beaten back by the
Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead).
men of the 24th Foot, until around midnight when
hostilities suddenly ended. Exchanges were made
A Swede by the name of Reverend Otto Witt ran the until 4am at which time the Zulus withdrew.
church/mission and at the time of the attack it had
been turned into a store by the British Army. Worse At 7am a main body of the Zulu force appeared on
still his house was now a military hospital under the the hill, but no attack was made. In the movie you
command of Surgeon James Reynolds.
may remember the Zulu commanders almost saluting
the brave souls of Rorkes Drift for their bravery.
Zulu warriors were rst sighted nearby to Rorkes You have to wonder whether the fact they could see
Drift on 19th January. On the 21st January the garrison Chelmsfords column approaching from the direction
heard ring from a distant battle (Isandlwana) this was of Isandlwana led to their retreat.
to be veried by the arrival of Lieutenant Ardendorff
who conrmed to them the tragic events.
Zulu casualties are thought to have been around 500
with the garrison at Rorkes Drift detailing 17 men
It was now time to improve the defences. The reduced killed and 10 wounded.
numbers of men meant that shorter perimeter line
(made from biscuit boxes) needed to be assembled.
Wargaming this great battle allows for plenty of last
stand scenarios. We played the game several times
The battle commenced when 500 Zulus appeared starting with a game portraying the initial Zulu assault
around the hill to the South of the mission. These on the British gun line and then played through an
warriors were met with heavy gunre. At roughly 50 assault on the hospital.
yards from the wall they veered around the hospital to
attack from the North West. Again gunre drove them We used basic maps drawn on wipe clean mats usually
back and the warriors hid in the undergrowth that used for dungeon adventuring. The Zulus had to ght
had not been cleared because of the lack of time.
their way through the hospital and we got to use the
VC winning heroes to thwart their attempts.
It was now that the main body of Zulus came up and
opened up with heavy re on the British from cover We nished the battle with a renewed Zulu attack on
around the West and North West of the mission. Now the thin red line. In this game the British had to hold
the hospital at the western end of the fortications out for a number of turns and then retreat to the nal
became the focus for the ghting.
redoubt and make a stand there. Our results mirrored
history but I reckon we took a few more casualties
This building was set on re and stormed by the Zulus. than they did in real life.
As you can watch in the superb movie Zulu the troops
could not stay inside it and the hospital was evacuated Our nal game will be a 1:1 20mm large scale action
but some patients died in the ames.
of the scenario but this if going to take sometime to
complete. The British is easy, only 139 combatants to
Here we have Privates John Williams, Henry Hook, portray, but the Zulus are an altogether larger problem.
William Jones, Frederick Hitch and Corporal William Even recycling the gures were still looking at many
Allen receiving the Victoria Cross for their defence of hundreds of gures to get the feel of the game right.
the hospital building.
It will be a while before we show you this game, but
once completed Dave Robotham is talking hosting a
With the hospital gone the ghting concentrated on Zulu Gaming weekend for the WJ writers.
91

On March 29th 1879 in Northern Zululand the British

Number 4 Column encountered the Zulu Army and
the Battle of Khambula took place. The commanders
on the day were Colonel Evelyn Wood VC and
Ntshingwayo kaMahole. Some 2,000 British troops
and native levies fought a horde of 20,000 Zulus.

Captain Moriarty, commanding the escort of a

company of the 80th Regiment, set up a defensive
position against a river. On the morning of the 12th
a force of around 800 Zulus, commanded by Prince
Mbilini, approached to within 50 yards of the camp,
obscured due to the morning mist, and rushed the
defences. Moriarty and 60 of his men were killed and
Number 4 Column, the most northerly British force, a group of the 80th on the south bank of the river laid
invaded Zululand on December 6th and were facing down enough re to drive off the Zulus.
the abaQulusi tribe. This tribe was led by Prince
Mbilini waMswati.
News of this latest setback prompted Wood to launch
a full scale attack on Hlobane Mountain. Lord
British Regiments:
Chelmsford urged on the attack because he needed to
1st Battalion of the 13th Light Infantry
create a diversion in the North so that he could move
The 90th Perthshire Light Infantry
his column to relieve Colonel Pearsons column in its
Royal Artillery, 11th Battery, 7th Brigade.
fortied camp at Eshowe.
Boer Commando
Mounted Infantry
Even though they knew that the Zulu King Cetshwayo
Frontier Light Horse
was preparing to advance on Woods troops, a force
A Native Contingent of Swazis
of mounted troops (Colonels Buller and Russell left
Khambula with 700 and 250 mounted troops each)
January 21st saw Woods force marched out of camp commenced an attack on either end of Hlobane. But
and his force moved rapidly on the Zulu positions, this attack was not successful and Buller lost 12
forcing the Zulus to withdraw onto Hlobane Mountain. ofcers and 80 men. No one knows how many native
After this initial success the British set up camp and irregulars were killed.
waited until January 23rd when the attack on Hlobane
began.
Now the Zulus were ready to attack the main British
force, but this not going to be like Isandlwana. This
It was early in the morning that news of Isandlwana British force was in a compact formation behind
and the destruction of Chelmsfords camp and the loss fortications.
of nearly a full battalion of British troops was received
by Wood and his men. With the belief that the Zulu When the Zulu Army was nally in sight the troops
force that crushed the British at Isandlwana would assembled at their positions; 1,200 men of the 1st/
turn and attack his force Wood chose to abandon the 13th Light Infantry and the 90th Regiment with 800
attack and move his column North to a new camp site, other irregular troops. Artillery comprised of 4 seven
away from the Zulu army.
pounder guns, 2 mule borne guns and several rocket
troughs. The mule guns took post in the redoubt while
Here the British column encamped on a plateau at the seven pounders were located in the open ground
Khambula, where the ground sloped away on two between the two main fortications.
sides. A fortied camp with wagon walls and trenches
was set up and the force readied itself for battle if it The battle began at 1.30pm as the Zulu Army moved
came.
towards the British with increasing speed, its horns
spreading out to the left and right, the chest heading
Over the next few weeks the Zulus raided north into straight for the centre of the camp. As it closed the
the areas occupied by Boer farms and villages, away left horn disappeared from view into the valley to the
from Woods camp, while the British raided the Zulu South, but marshy ground held up its assault.
areas. On March 12th the Zulus scored another victory
over the British as a supply train was attacked near The right horn circled round to the North and came in
Luneburg in the North of Zululand.
towards the camp. Using some clever tactical sense
Wood dispatched Buller with his mounted men to
92
92

provoke the right horn into making a premature attack

before the rest of the army was in place. Bullers
move had the effect intended, the mass of the right
horn rushing towards the British fortications.

90th to take two companies to the edge of the hill and

re down into the Zulus assembling in the valley. But
the Zulus had captured Martini Henry ries captured at
Isandlwana and used them against the two companies.
The move failed and the two companies were forced
Once the mounted men were clear the troops along the back, but not before Hackett was blinded.
north face, the 90th Light Infantry, opened re with
the guns positioned in the open between the wagon During the course of the day the left horn and the
laager and the redoubt. The devastating re utterly chest kept attacking but they kept getting forced back
destroyed the right horn, removing it as threat to the by withering re. At 5.30pm the Zulus began to fall
British force.
back and Wood ordered the infantry forward to re
into the withdrawing Zulu regiments.
This tactical advantage allowed Wood to redeploy
signicant numbers of troops and guns from the north The last phase of the battle was the order to send
side against the chest and left horn as they came up Bullers mounted men in pursuit of the Zulus. Woods
for their assaults. The left horn climbed the south face force suffering 83 casualties. It is believed that 3,000
of the hill only to be met by heavy re from the 13th Zulus were either killed in the battle or died of ther
Regiment. Zulus on the right attacked the cattle laager, wounds afterwards. The way was open for British
forcing Wood to withdraw its garrison and leave the to now invade Cetshwayos Zululand kingdom.
laager to the Zulus.
The diversion also allowed Chelmsford to relieve
Pearsons column at Eshowe. Ulundi beckoned.
A tactical error saw Wood order Major Hackett of the

93

INTRODUCTION
The British were outnumbered 2:1 at Gingindlovu
with 5,250 British and colonial troops against 11,000
Zulus warriors.
Following the disaster of Isandlwana, the British
government rushed reinforcements to Natal: 2
Batteries of Royal Artillery, 2 Regiments of cavalry
and 5 Battalions of Foot. It couldnt afford anymore
embarrassments at the hands of what London classed
as savages.

by Zulu scouts and signals ashed from Pearsons

camp at Eshowe. What became eminently clear to
Lord Chelmsford was that his advance would be
ercely contested, and on top of this the poor weather
conditions further impeded progress.
THE BATTLE OF GINGINDLOVU
On 1st April 1879, Chelmsfords column reached
the Royal Kraal of Gingindlovu and laagered for the
night. Again heavy rainfall made it hard for the troops.
Many lessons had been learnt following the tragedy
of Isandlwana and at every encampment the wagons
were positioned to create an unbroken laager wall,
a defensive position to give cover. Troops were also
required to dig sections of trench around the laager.

So it was that at the end of March 1879 Lord

Chelmsford found himself in the worrying position of
another column in trouble. Colonel Pearsons Number
1 Column lay isolated in a fortied position at Eshowe,
which is deep in eastern Zululand. Chelmsford John Dunn, a pre-war inhabitant of Zululand for
worried the force would be destroyed before it could many years, and chief scout to Chelmsford headed off
be relieved.
across the Nyezane River to look for enemy forces.
It was here that Dunn encountered the Zulu Army of
Lord Chelmsfords relief column crossed the Tugela 11,000 warriors. Dunn returned to the British camp
River on 29th March 1879 and began its march to and reported back to Chelmsford that the Zulus would
Pearsons force. The country was literally covered attack in the morning he was right.

94

The column was laagered on the top of a hill, the sides

sloping away in each direction, which if you think
about it is about as good a combat position as any for
the battle. In accordance with the new standing orders
issued after Isandlwana, the laager was entrenched in
a square formation.
At the north face of the square was the 3rd Battalion,
the 60th Ries; the left by the 99th Regiment and
the Buffs (3rd Foot) and the right face by the 57th
Regiment. The corners of the square were reinforced
by Gatling Guns, conventional artillery and rocket
troughs. It was quite a formidable defensive position.
Sun rise saw Irregular Horse and infantry piquets
patrolling towards the Nyezane River, scouting for the
Zulu advance and ready to react should the need arise.
The regiments in the camp stood to at 4am. Shortly
before 6am, reports came in from the advanced
scouts/piquets of the Zulu approach. Out of a movie
script you can see the lone native warriors standing
and pointing to the sky and then the immortal cry of
Impi pierces the silence.

As to the other part of the assault, the horns of the

army, the Zulu warriors rushed around the British
position. At Isandlwana when this happened the rear
of the British formation was weak this was not the
case at Gingindlovu . The warriors met the volley
ring of the 91st Highland Regiment and this assault
was also squashed and the Zulus were forced into
cover.
SADDLE UP AND END THIS BATTLE
The successful volley re of the 91st gave Lord
Chelmsford the chance to seize the initiative and
he ordered his mounted units out of the square to
complete the victory. The decision to move them out
like this was a little premature, the battle was far from
over, but he got away with it and eventually the Zulu
forces withdrew.

The battle effectively ended around 7am with the

Zulus in full retreat, pursued by the mounted troops
and the native contingent. Lord Chelmsford was
greatly relieved by the outcome of the battle, showing
that his armys condence was re-established and thus
it enabled him to continue his advance to Pearsons
Then suddenly there is movement as the Zulu chest camp. From here he was to head off to do battle with
advances. The usual exchange of rie re from Zulu the Zulu King, Cetshwayo, at the Battle of Ulundi.
skirmishers gave way to a massed charge as the horde
of warriors looked to overwhelm their enemy.
Battle Stats: The British lost 6 ofcers and 55 men;
among the dead was Lieutenant Colonel Northey of
THE 60TH RIFLES
the 60th Ries. Zulu casualties were calculated at
The rst attack of this battle was received by the 60th around 1,000.
Ries, one of the newly arrived
regiments, and it has to be said
that the young soldiers of the 60th
found the ordeal difcult to deal
with. It took solid leadership from
the battalions ofcers to keep the
line steady and ring. It helped that
the Gatling guns at the ends of the
line spat death at a rate of knots.
Constant gunre and the support
of the Gatling guns meant the Zulu
charge faltered and instead of the
full frontal hit on the square the
Zulus were forced around to the
west ank of the square, where
the attack was renewed against the
99th Regiment. In the face of the
heavy weapons re from the two
sides of the square the Zulu chest
assault failed.

96

97

The Battle of Ulundi was the end of the Zulu Army

and the end of the Zulu Wars of 1879. On July 4th
in Central Zululand the British Army under the
command of Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford
faced off against Cetshwayo, the Zulu King and his
mighty army.
Around 17,000 British and native troops were to ght
24,000 Zulu warriors at this battle.
British Regiments:
Royal Artillery:
17th Lancers
1st Battalion, 13th Light Infantry
2nd Battalion, 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers
58th Regiment
80th Regiment
90th (Perthshire) Regiment
94th Regiment

90th Perthshire Regiment in the Crimea, took over

Pearsons old command, which was now called the
1st Division.
A new command named the 2nd Division under the
command of Major General Newdigate prepared to
invade Zululand in the central area and join up with
Wood. Lord Chelmsford attached himself to the 2nd
Division.
By June 28th Lord Chelmsfords two columns
were within 17 miles of the Royal Kraal of Ulundi.
Cetshwayo attempted to negotiate with the British
while his warriors gathered at Ulundi but the British
terms were rejected.

Camp was struck and on the eve of the battle British

troops listened to the Zulu war songs. The next day
Lord Chelmsford took the majority of his force and
crossed the river advancing towards the Zulu kraal,
The battles of Khambula and Gingindlovu inicted moving in a formation known as the hollow square,
heavy casualties on the Zulus, warriors that were the mounted troops covering each side and the rear. It
lost and could not be replaced. The slaughter at was just before 9am that the Zulus attacked the hollow
Isandlwana led the British government to send out square on all sides.
more reinforcements than could effectively be used.
The area was awash with British major generals.
The amount of repower that the British laid down on
the Zulu warriors must have been immense. Compared
On route from England were Sir Garnet Wolseley to todays weaponry it was nothing, but compared to a
and the Ashantee Ring who were to replace Lord stabbing spear and some ries stolen at Isandlwana it
Chelmsford in command of the British force in must have seemed like hell on earth.
Zululand.
It took a mere half hour before the Zulus began to
By the April of 1879, he had at his disposal a large falter. At this point the 17th Lancers passed out of the
force of highly trained soldiers that consisted of 2 back of the square and charged. The impact of the
cavalry regiments (the Kings Dragoon Guards and charge broke up what was left of the Zulu formations,
the 17th Lancers), 5 batteries of artillery and 12 dissolving the Zulu army.
infantry battalions: which broke down into 1,000
regular cavalry, 9,000 regular infantry and a further The British casualties were 3 ofcers and 79 men.
7,000 men with 24 guns, including in its ranks the Zulu casualties were said to be 1,500. Following the
very rst Gatling gun battery to take the eld for the battle the British burnt the military kraals in the area
British army.
around Ulundi. The Zulu chiefs started to surrender
across Zululand to the British forces. Cetshwayo was
The Zulu King had only 24,000 warriors who were captured on August 28th and sent into exile in Cape
suffering large losses and were demoralised. A rapid Colony.
reorganisation of the army and Lord Chelmsford was
prepared to invade Zululand for the nal time.
A new regime in Zululand was formed and Britain
withdrew its military might from the area.
Evelyn Woods force in the West was renamed
the Flying Column and the newly arrived Major The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 was over ...
General Henry Crealock, who had served with the
98
98

99

They may be knights of the round table who dance whenever theyre able, but they
sometimes have to take time out of Camelot to keep the riff raff under control. Were
all big Monty Python and the Holy Grail fans at Wargames Journal, so when someone
came up with the bright idea to repress some peasants, we jumped at the chance.
Arthur
Woman
Arthur
Woman
Arthur
Woman
Dennis
Woman
Dennis
Arthur
Woman
Arthur
Woman
Arthur
Dennis
Arthur
Dennis
Arthur:
Dennis
Arthur
Dennis
Arthur
Woman
Arthur
Woman
Arthur
Woman
Arthur
Dennis
Arthur:
Dennis :
Arthur:
Dennis :

I am Arthur, King of the Britons. Whose castle is that?

King of the who?
The Britons.
Who are the Britons?
Well, we all are. We are all Britons, and I am your king.
I didnt know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.
Youre fooling yourself. Were living in a dictatorship: a self-perpetuating autocracy in
which the working classes
Oh, there you go bringing class into it again.
Thats what its all about. If only people would hear of
Please! Please, good people. I am in haste. Who lives in that castle?
No one lives there.
Then who is your lord?
We dont have a lord.
What?
I told you. Were an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of
executive ofcer for the week.
Yes.
But all the decisions of that ofcer have to be ratied at a special bi-weekly meeting...
Yes, I see.
By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs...
Be quiet!
But by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major
Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!
Order, eh? Who does he think he is? Heh.
I am your king!
Well, I didnt vote for you.
You dont vote for kings.
Well, how did you become King, then?
The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur
from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Ex
calibur. That is why I am your king!
Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of
government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from
some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Be quiet!
Well, but you cant expect to wield supreme executive power just cause some watery tart
threw a sword at you!
Shut up!
I mean, if I went round saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had
lobbed a scimitar at me, theyd put me away!
100

Arthur
Denni:
Arthur
Dennis
Arthur
Dennis

Shut up, will you? Shut up!

Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.
Shut up!
Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! Im being repressed!
Bloody peasant!
Oh, what a give-away...

SCENARIO BACKGROUND
Before they quested together in search of the Holy
Grail, King Arthur and his knights did typical knightly
things such as jousting, feasting and repressing all
manner of peasants across their lands.

RULES
As this scenario is far from serious we opted to play it
with Games Workshops Lord of the Rings rules. As
LOTR is about as simple a game as you can get its
perfect for modifying to other genres and lends itself
to the attachment of silly special rules.

This scenario features one such incident where Dennis,

infamous spokesman of the Anarcho-Syndicalistic Having said that, you could use most skirmish based
Peasant League, has caused a revolt amongst the rules for this battle. WJs own Age of Blood would
citizens of an otherwise peaceful village.
be a natural choice and veteran readers will recall we
did a similarly light hearted knightly skirmish entitled
Hearing about the civil unrest Arthur and his most Dont Drop the Dead Donkey for the 1st edition of
trusted knights set off across Briton to put the those rules.
rebellion down and restore order. Now if they can just
remember where the village is

102

THE MAP
The scenario takes place in the nameless village where
the peasants reside and the table therefore should
have several buildings on it to represent the village.
It is assumed that all the buildings cannot be entered,
by either side, unless you particularly wish to ght
within them. The more buildings you can put on the
table the better as these will provide obstacles for the
knights and give the peasants defensible locations.
THE KNIGHTS
The valiant heroes of the round table are Arthur, King
of the Britons, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the
Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot, Sir Galahad
the Pure and Sir Bedevere the Wise. As well as the
ve famous knights is Sir Bors, who may or may not
show up during the battle.

Wargear: Sword, heavy armour, coconuts and shield.

Special Rule: Fearlessness
Lancelot is so brave that he does not understand the
concept of tactics. His entire battle philosophy is to
charge forward and kill everything in sight. This serves
him well most of the time but it does limit his tactical
exibility. Lancelot must always move a full 6 in a
straight line every turn until he gets into combat with
the closest foe and he will use Heroic Fight each and
every turn whist in combat..
Sir Galahad the Pure
The youngest of the knights of the round table,
Galahad is perhaps to nice for his own good. He is
also completely chaste and for this he receives much
mockery from the other knights. Though not as
accomplished a warrior as some of the other knights,
his bravery is without question.

ARTHUR, KING OF THE BRITONS

The legendary Arthur is both a just ruler and brave
warrior who will later lead his men on the quest of the
Grail. A stern, stoic man, Arthur is prone to haughtiness
and has a pathological dislike for all things silly.
Galahad
Arthur

F S
5/- 4

D
7

W
3

A
3

C
6

M/W/F
3/3/3

F S
4/- 4

D
7

W
2

A
2

C
6

M/W/F
2/2/2

Wargear: Sword, heavy armour, coconuts and shield.

Special Rule: Purity

Wargear: Excalibur (sword), heavy armour, coconuts Galahad is so pure that he would rather not kill anyone
and shield.
if he can at all help it. As such he tends to incapacitate
enemies and knock them out instead of actually
Special Rule: King of the Britons
killing them. This sits well with his conscience but
As Arthur is the true King of the Britons (though his it makes winning battles more difcult for the rest
title may be disputed by some) he commands his men of the knights. When Galahad has defeated a foe in
with great weight of authority. He can inspire them to combat roll a D6 and consult the below table to see
great feats on the battleeld and help overcome some what actually happens to them.
of their more erratic behaviour.
D6 Roll
Result
By spending a point of will Arthur can make heroic
actions as if he had used Might, or alternatively 1-2
Nothing. He pulls his blow at the last second
he can negate Lancelots Fearlessness, or Robins
and they get 1 Wound back.
Cowardness special rules for the turn.
3-4
Knocked Out. The enemy is out cold and
wakes up on a roll of 4+.
SIR LANCELOT THE BRAVE
Roll during each enemy movement.
The mightiest of Arthurs knight, Lancelots courage 5-6
Dead. Galahad actually kills them, probably
in battle is probably better described as maniacal
by mistake though.
psychotic behaviour. He may defeat everyone he
comes in contact with but he also has a habit of Sir Robin the Not Quite so Brave as Sir Lancelot
massacring everyone else who unfortunately happens Sir Robin is easily the most timid knight ever to sit
to be nearby.
around the round table. In fact he is so cowardly that
he has never actually really fought anyone. He can
F S D W A C M/W/F
ght, but he usually runs away and lets his minstrels
Lancelot
6/- 4 7
3
3
9
6/1/3
do the ghting for him.

103

He is out of luck today however, as Arthur ordered

him to leave the minstrels at Camelot.
Bedevere
Robin

F S
5/- 4

D
7

W
2

A
2

C
1

M/W/F
3/2/2

F S
3/- 4

D
7

W
2

A
2

C
6

M/W/F
1/4/3

Wargear: Sword, heavy armour, coconuts and shield.

Special Rule: Wisdom

Bedevere is so wise that he can offer insight into
how his fellow knights should be ghting. Each turn
Special Rule: Cowardess
Bedevere may, spending a point of Will and on a D6
Robins lack of courage cannot be underestimated roll of 4+, give a free point of Might to any knight
under any circumstance. Given half the chance he within 6.
wont even turn up for ghts, let alone ght in them.
Not only does he have abysmal Courage, he must pass Sir Bors
a Courage test to be able to move into base contact Second only to Lancelot in hardness, Sir Bors is
with an enemy model, no matter how feeble they are. something of a mystery. He never travels with the other
Also if he actually loses a Wound he automatically knights, never eats with them but does occasionally
starts retreating.
turn up almost magically to join in a ght. This strange
behaviour would come to a close when he chose the
Sir Bedevere the Wise
wrong time to appear when he was killed by a vicious
Sir Bedevere is Arthurs most loyal friend and trusted rabbit.
condant. He is knowledgeable and wise but his
common sense may be somewhat lacking. He is more
F S D W A C M/W/F
used to reading than ghting and though he may not Bors
6/- 4 7
3
3
6
4/1/2
be able to swing a sword as well as the others, he at
least knows all the theory.
Wargear: Sword, heavy armour, coconuts and shield.
Wargear: Sword, heavy armour, coconuts and shield.

104

Special Rule: Whered He Come From?

Bors doesnt start the game with the rest
of the knights, but appears at random.
At the start of each and every movement
phase roll a D6, on a roll of 6 Sir Bors may
be deployed within 2 of Arthur and can
act normally, but for that turn only. He will
disappear again at the start of the next turn
unless another 6 is rolled.

becomes a Super Peasant and uses the statistics for

that warrior type instead of their normal statistics.
In addition while Dennis lives the peasants are immune
to fear and will not run. When he dies though, the
game is lost.
Special Rules: Argumentative
Dennis is at his best when he gets into an
argument about the unjust society they
live in and most knights cannot help but
to argue back. By spending a
point of Will, just like casting
a spell, on a roll of 4+ Dennis
can target a knight within 8.

THE KNIGHTS OBJECTIVES

Though they would think of their mission as to
enforce the rule of law, what they are actually
doing is beating up trouble makers. Their ultimate
aim is to silence Dennis, as he is the ring leader
of the peasants and without him to lead them
they have no will to rebel on their own.

He then argues with that knight

so tenaciously that the knight
has no choice but to abandon
what he was doing so he can
argue too. He is immobilised for
the rest of the turn and if in combat
he suffers -1 F and -1 A.

Therefore the knights will win if they can

kill Dennis. This wont be as simple as that
though as he has a whole village worth of
peasants ghting for him.
THE
ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM
PEASANTS
Lead, in a purely vocal sense, by Dennis,
the peasants have refused to work for
their lordly masters and have formed
an anarcho-syndicalist commune. No
one apart from Dennis himself really
knows what this means, but to the typical peasant it
sounds pretty good.
Dennis
The mouthy Dennis is not just an unwashed lowlife
but also a brilliant orator who can even get the up in a
war of words with Arthur, and thats no easy feat. He
posesses few combat skills and would do well to keep
the ghting as far away from himself as he possibly
can. His leadership skills though are so ne tuned that
by encouragement alone he can transform the most
pathetic of peasants into a fearsome lord of battle.
Dennis

F S
3/- 3

D
3

W
3

A
1

C
6

M/W/F
1/6/3

Wargear: Stick (hand weapon).

Peasants (30)
More used to being smelly
than they are to ghting, the
peasants only strength is in
their numbers but even that will
not be enough against the knights.
Only with Dennis do they have a
chance at victory. No more than 25% of the peasants
may be armed with bows.
F S
Peasant
3/5+3
Super Peasant 4/4+4

D
3
4

W
1
1

A
1
2

C
2
2

Wargear: Hand weapon or bow.

PEASANTS OBJECTIVES
The peasants are just trying to ght off the knights
and so all they have to do is defeat their enemies.
They can do this in three ways, the rst is by killing
all the knights. They dont have to kill Bors though,
unless he is already on the table.

If they manage to kill Arthur then the rest of the

Special Rules: Inspiration
knights have suffered a terrible blow that they cannot
By talking alone Dennis makes his followers believe recover from and lose. Finally, if they can force all the
they can achieve anything if they work together and knights to ee from the board they will win.
with his belief they will happily ght Arthur and
his knights. Any peasant that is within 6 of Dennis
105

There is something rather magnicent about a well painted Phalanx. When we

rst played Guagamela in 6mm scale the Phalanxes looked pretty impressive,
even at that small size. But when we saw what a 15mm scale Phalanx could
look like well we had to let Dave Robotham loose with a brush.
I have been pondering for a while at how simple
I could make a paint scheme but still keep it
complex. Confused? I was. Many articles will
take you through how they painted 17 layers
of highlights and how they blended the colour
through using the down of the lesser spotted
Australian land duck.
I have been guilty of this in thepast as well.
It is very easy to paint a gure and get totally
immersed with the work, completely forgetting
this is meant to be a guide So I wanted to
paint a unit that would look stunning on the
battleeld and bear up to closer inspection as
well as any other detailed paintwork.

Red
Base colour Flat Brown (Vallejo Model
Colour)
Highlight Red (Vallejo Model Colour)
White
Base colour Medium Sea Grey (Vallejo
Model Colour)
Highlight Off White (Vallejo Model
Colour)
Metals
Base colour Brazen Brass (Games
Workshop)
Highlight Dwarf Bronze (Games

An idea Play Warmaster Ancients in 1518mm and double the base sizes Might
sound odd but that is what we have decided to
do here at Wargames Journal and so we now
have to paint up a couple of new armies.
This was the perfect opportunity to put my
musings on the simple complex continuum
to the test. We decided that a unit should consist
of 36 gures, mounted 12 to a 40x80mm
base.
For this entire unit of Macedonian Phalangites
I used 12 colours. The pikes and the trousers
on the phalangites were painted in one shade
but for everything else I painted a base colour
and then highlighted it with a lighter shade.
Trousers and Pikes
Chocolate Brown (Vallejo Model Colour)
106

Workshop)
Flesh
Base Colour Tanned Flesh (Games
Workshop)
Highlight Elf Flesh (Games Workshop)
Straps
Base colour Bubonic Brown (Games
Workshop)
Highlight Iraqui Sand (Vallejo Model
Colour)
Shield & Banner Details
Black (Vallejo Model Colour)
STARTING POINT
I cleaned up and assembled the gures, which
in the case of these wonderful Xyston sculpts,
meant as little as drilling the hands out for the
pikes. They are wonderful gures and a joy to
paint. I put the unit together as six 40x40mm

squares with six gures to a base.

This would assemble into a typical Warmaster
unit but still be customisable depending on
our needs. I can work with all the gures
glued to a base but I know quite a few people
prefer to stick the gures down afterwards.
I used Games Workshop black primer as the
undercoat.
ITS ALL ABOUT THE SYSTEM
To get through 36 gures quickly involves
developing a system. I suggest you do not try
and paint all 36 gs in one go. I split them
into two groups and nished one group before
moving onto the other half. I painted all of
one colour on the gures before moving onto
the next colour. I painted all the base colours
before moving onto the highlights. The last
areas I painted on the gures were the pikes
and trousers.
I started by painting the sleeves, skirts and
head-dresses in the Flat Brown and then I
painted the linen armour in Medium Sea Grey.
The skin was painted in Tanned Flesh and the
shields and helmet details in Brazen Brass.
The straps holding the shield and scabbard
were painted in Bubonic Brown.
At this stage if you were so inclined you could
stop and base the gures up and be proud of
a nice clean, if a bit drab, looking unit. Using
the list of colours at the start of the article I
then went over and highlighted all the surfaces
with the corresponding colour.
(Left to right) A 40x40mm base nished and
a base just basecoated.
HIGHLIGHTING
Now for something as simple as a two stage

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IN FINISHING
In no time at all you should have a great
looking unit of gures. You can base the
gures up however you want but I am going
to be putting these chaps on rather dull desert
Simply put you have to get that contrast bases. There are also plenty of other details
between layers and you have to make it you could easily paint onto the unit at a later
obvious. But it will still look super on a 15mm date.
gure. You want to make sure the majority of
the colour on the surface you are painting is the For example I added painted some small
highlight colour. Leave traces of the basecoat patterns onto the banner and the leader shield
colour around the edges or in the recesses.
but I could have added the same device to all
the phalangites shields using white.
You can afford to be a little creative whilst
doing this so dont worry too much if you have I am now off to assemble more Macedonians
left a shadow where no crease or indentation but I hope this article has been helpful or at
exists.
the least inspirational. As I have shown, you
do not need to be able to have mad blending
At 15mm that will just add to the effect. skills to be able to get great looking troops.
This is especially good to bear in mind when Just keep it neat and all will be well.
painting the esh as you can get some great
details onto the face and arms with just two
layers of colour.
highlight you have to be prepared to go
Beyond the Thunder Dome in terms of
contrast and how harsh your colours might
appear to be.

What follows on the following pages is a step

by step photo guide to how I highlighted the
different layers
THE VARNISH
The nal step in painting the gures was to
varnish them. I always use matt varnish as I
nd a gure varnished with gloss varnish is
too difcult to look at. The gloss just ruins any
work you have done on the model.
I use Testors Dullcote, the difference it makes
to the model is wonderful. It brings the red
back in line with the other colours (the red
paint from Vallejo tends to have a slight gloss
nish to it) and takes the shine of the metallic
colours.

The white is highlighted with attention paid to the

segmented armour around the waist. It may look
complicates but all that was needed was a touch of
the brush to each segment. If you have a good point
to the brush you will be able to get all the segments
painted quite quickly.
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The red is added and suddenly the whole

gure becomes much brighter. You can
paint the folds into the cloth that makes
up their skirts and sleeves but it is much
easier to paint a line around the hem of the
cloth whilst leaving a thin stripe of the base
colour around the joins to the armour.

Almost impossible to spot but the metal has

been highlighted. It is now a much richer
bronze colour. The detail work on the helmets
was as simple as a dot of paint on each of the
face guards and a line around the helmet rim.
The shields however were painted entirely
with Dwarf Bronze. The reason I painted the
Brazen Brass rst was because the bronze
colour would not cover very well over black.

Finally the esh and straps have been

highlighted. The straps holding the shield
and scabbard we highlighted with a single
line of the highlight colour, nothing fancy
just one stripe of colour. The esh was a
little more complicated but when broken
down into shapes, becomes much easier. For
instance on the face the nose was one dot of
paint, each cheek was another dot and the
top lip, bottom lip and chin were all a single
line of colour each.
109

(Left to right) A varnished and unvarnished base of gures, the most obvious difference
is the glare off the shields.

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 Part 2 of our series on making your own modular

terrain tiles
The 95th Ries Under Fire
The 96th - an alternative spin on Major Sharpe
Brush Strokes 40mm Musketeers are tended to
as Dave Robotham goes all French on us
The Eastern Front - We take a detailed look at this
epic clash during WWII
Dungeoneer - a fast play, fun and easy to learn
game for ladz n dadz

Civil War drama unfolds

as Union troops surround
Bakers Farm...

114

 WWII skirmish action as Rich Jones leads us

through playing the NUTS! rules and provides 3
fast skirmish games for our enjoyment
Blood in the Sand - Tom Hinshelwood details his
latest project, Gladiatorial combat
Mars Attack - a mini campaign for the new 18mm
scale gures from Black Hat Miniatures
And much, much more...

The Boys are back ...and

this time theyre slamming
Necrons around in an
action packed Battle
Report.

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